Cannabinol

SINGAPORE, March 28 Kyodo

A German student charged with drug trafficking in Singapore has escaped the gallows after investigation showed that the drug she allegedly possessed was not pure cannabis.

Public prosecutors on Thursday amended the charge against 23-year-old Julia Susanne Bohl, who was originally charged in court on March 15 with possessing 687 grams of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

But a laboratory analysis of the weight and content of the drug found only 281.6 grams of cannabis and 382.2 grams of ''cannabis mixture.''

Under Singapore's strict laws against drug trafficking, a mandatory death penalty is proscribed for offenders convicted of possessing more than 500 grams of cannabis or more than 1,000 grams of cannabis mixture.

Cannabis mixture is defined as any mix of vegetable matter containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and cannabinol, the non-psychoactive chemical constituent of cannabis from which THC forms.

The Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement that Bohl and two Singaporean men she was arrested along with earlier this month -- Mahdi Bin Ibrahim Bamadhaj and Hamdan Bin Mohd -- now face separate charges of possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking and possession of cannabis mixture for the same purpose.

In Singapore, a person is presumed to be trafficking in a controlled drug if he or she possesses more than 15 grams of cannabis or 30 grams of cannabis mixture.

A person found guilty by the court for trafficking less than 330 grams of cannabis or 660 grams of cannabis mixture could face five to 20 years imprisonment. A man convicted of the same could also face five to 15 strokes of the cane, but women are not caned.

Bohl is alleged to have been involved in a drug syndicate that supplied cannabis and other drugs in downtown Singapore.

She and the two men arrested along with her also face a number of other drug-related charges, including possession of 25.12 grams of methamphetamine for purposes of trafficking.

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