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As the American basketball player, an American basketball player in Indonesia, went down to his apartment lobby in recent months to collect a delivery containing smuggled cannabis gummies, he believed the medicine for relieving his chronic inflammatory condition had arrived.

It had – however, so did a team of ten plainclothes officers. Footage circulating online depicts the athlete, dressed in a dark top and shorts, shouting for help as multiple law enforcement agents attempt to detain him.

Facing Harsh Penalties

The 35-year-old from Dallas, Texas, is confronting the possibility of execution or a long spell behind bars. He was a key member of Prawira Bandung, which clinched the national basketball league in 2023, and he accumulated over a thousand points across three years in the nation. But now he remains in detention before trial and faces a lifetime ban from the league.

“Cannabis serves as my treatment,” he stated during a call from a prison just outside Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. “I have a chronic inflammation called Crohn’s that’s untreatable. There’s no medicine besides cannabis that relieves my abdominal pain.”

When not playing, Shaw resides in Thailand, where the laws on cannabis are more liberal laws. He says he previously suffered the pain of going without cannabis in earlier seasons in Indonesia but explains how medical needs led him to bring in the seized batch of over a hundred edibles this year. “It was a foolish error,” he says.

Challenges in Law and Life

However, this error should not warrant execution or a long spell in prison, he contends. “There’s people telling me I’m about to spend the rest of my life behind bars over some edibles,” he states. “This is unlike anything like this.” In the first two months following his detention, he was at “my most difficult period” and in a “really dark mental place.”

“I experienced isolation and despair,” he recalls. “Waking up felt unbearable.” Yet, with prayer and his faith, as well as access to a detention center gym, he is starting to feel himself again despite the tall sportsman shares a cramped cell with a dozen men. “I recently celebrated my 35th birthday but my energy remains high,” notes the former Utah State basketballer, with experience in Argentina, Japan, Turkey, Thailand and Tunisia. “I hope to resume playing professionally.”

Medical Use vs. Legal Perception

The player, a center or power forward, explains cannabis helps ease his mental health struggles, as well as sleeplessness and the discomfort of his condition. “I don’t use it to have fun or social events,” he emphasizes. “Due to my digestive issues, sometimes it’s hard to retain meals or go to the toilet. It just soothes the pain a little bit.”

Indonesia takes a hard line regarding narcotics and conducted executions in 2016, via shooting, of several individuals found guilty of drug offenses. More than 500 people – with nearly a hundred foreigners – are on death row in the country, mostly for narcotics violations.

Law enforcement stated that Shaw sent text messages to his teammates indicating he planned to distribute portions of the edibles with them. “Their definition of narcotics, I consider medicine,” says Shaw. “It’s just different cultures.”

Fundraising and Future Hopes

After Shaw’s arrest, police officials told reporters that the American could face a life sentence or even the death penalty upon conviction. “We are still running uncover to uncover global drug networks involved preventing further spread,” an official stated.

Shaw was swiftly paraded at a press conference, appearing with his hands cuffed wearing an orange prison-issue T-shirt and a black face mask. He stood with his back to the audience as officials exhibited the seized candies, which weigh 869 grams in total and are worth $400.

He said that accusing him of holding nearly a kilogram of cannabis is unfair and “sick,” since the bulk is made up by the candy material rather than the cannabis content. “I’m accused of a large quantity,” he says. “My actual possession was far less.”

Shaw is fundraising to cover his rising legal fees. His trial has not begun despite being arrested five months ago, and he awaits his initial court date. “It’s being portrayed as if I’m a major trafficker,” he says. “Why would I bring the candy here for sale? It was for personal use.”

Wider Implications and Advocacy

An advocacy director from a group supporting individuals jailed over cannabis said: “Jarred’s case is not unique. Globally, individuals face extreme sentences for non-violent cannabis offenses that pose no threat to public safety.” In the United States as well, she added, tens of thousands remain incarcerated for similar offenses despite recreational legalization in numerous states and medical approval in most regions. “These punishments contradict international human rights standards,” she emphasized.

The potential efficacy of cannabis for Crohn’s is understudied but recent papers suggest that cannabis can ease chronic lower back pain without serious side effects. Amid this, public figures have discussed the benefits of cannabis treatments.

Similarities exist with this case and the situation of another American athlete, the acclaimed player detained in Russia for nearly a year in 2022 when officials discovered cannabis vape cartridges in her bags. Griner was eventually released through an exchange involving a Russian weapons trafficker.

“Jarred has always been one of the most generous and selfless people you could meet,” his friend said on Shaw’s fundraising page. “He erred. But I don’t believe that this should ruin his life prospects.”

The US embassy in Jakarta stated they know about Shaw’s case but declined additional details.

A support worker handling Shaw’s case commented: “Cannabis itself is not lethal, but possessing it can. We must get as much attention to this situation in the hope that a positive resolution will set a powerful precedent. I am committed to making sure he returns to his family.”

• The Indonesian National Police did not respond to a request for comment for this story.