Russian jailed for growing cannabis in central Vietnam

A court in the south central province handed out the sentence to Shedko Dmitrii, 34, for “illegal possession of narcotics” in line with the Penal Code.

Dmitrii was detained by police in the town of Phan Thiet last year.

The verdict said that in late 2019, he visited the beach town as a tourist and then rented a house to prolong his stay.

Last August, he ordered cannabis seeds and equipment for cultivating the plant online.

At first, he grew 20 trees, harvested leaves and dried them for storing. Later, he grew another 27 plants.

In December 2021, police found the cannabis plants in his bedroom and three kilos of dried cannabis leaves.

He told the court that he had been assaulted to the point of having a broken arm by another Russian and therefore he had been using cannabis as a pain killer.

He added he did not know that growing cannabis is prohibited in Vietnam.

Cannabis is on the list of narcotics forbidden in Vietnam. Those growing cannabis on a small scale could be fined VND2-5 million ($86.16-215.40). Farmers found cultivating 500 to 3,000 plants could face jail terms of six months to three years, while those working on bigger scale could spend up to seven years behind bars.