A court has allowed police to detain an American and two Myanmar nationals accused of operating a marijuana plantation for another two weeks, amid protests their farm was officially approved and focused solely on hemp.
US citizen John Fredric Todoroki, 63, Shein Latt, 37, and Ma Shun Le Myat Noe, 23, appeared in court Tuesday in Mandalay region's Myingyan district for the first time since their April 23 arrests, reported AP.
They could face penalties of up to 10 years' imprisonment or more depending on the charges under the 1993 Anti-Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances Law.
Another American, Alexander Skemp Todoroki, 49, is wanted in connection with the case.
Authorities raided the plantation in Myotha Industrial Park, about 60 kilometres west of Mandalay in Ngunzun township, Myingyan district after photos of the farm circulated on Facebook.
Myanmar’s anti-drug agency said 349,300 marijuana plants and 5,200 seedlings along with 380 kilogrammes of hemp seedlings and 1,804 grams of hemp oil were seized.
Plantation operator III M Nutraceutical Co. said the plants are actually hemp, and its research and development project was approved by the Mandalay region government.
Hemp has many uses—including medicinal and for clothing made by ethnic communities in Kachin state.
Hemp and marijuana plants are forms of cannabis and look similar to the untrained eye, but each has clear distinctions and their compounds widely differ.
Marijuana plants have far higher levels of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol—the psychoactive element that causes a high.
Hemp, on the other hand, has only tiny traces of THC, and is also used for paper, dietary supplements, hemp-oil skin products, and CBD, or cannabidiol, which is extracted from the plant for THC-free health products.
U Khin Maung Than, legal adviser to III M Nutraceutical Co. told The Irrawaddy after the court session on Tuesday that the plantation had government approval.
He said Myanmar law only prohibits planting cannabis that can be used as a drug, and not industrial hemp. The first hearing in the trial was scheduled for May 21 at Myingyan District Court.
