American man convicted of possessing new drugs

An American man has received a suspended prison term for possessing a new type of synthetic drug, Seoul court officials said Monday.

The Seoul High Court sentenced the 23-year-old American man, only known by his initial C, to three years in prison, suspended for four years for hitting a local police officer with his car while trying to avoid a drug bust.

The man possessed a new kind of synthetic marijuana called "AM-2201" at that time, according to the court.

The ruling is the first to be handed down by a South Korean court on the possession of analogue drugs with a growing number of new types of drugs coming from foreign countries, the official said.

AM-2201 is synthetic yet chemical compounds are reportedly stronger than marijuana and have been linked to anxiety, hallucinations and even seizures.

The official, however, added that the jail term is lighter than a previous ruling of three years behind bars since he has reached a settlement with the police officer.

During trials, the defendant's lawyer said that an ordinance for the current law that bans synthetic drugs "JWH-018" and analogue drugs should be nullified, claiming that the term "analogue" is unclear, according to the official.

Thus, the previous ruling of a guilty verdict based on judging that AM-2201 is an analogue drug is against the principle of legality, the lawyer was quoted by officials as saying.

The principle, also called "nullum crimen, nulla poena sine lege," is a fundamental defense in criminal law prosecution according to which no crime or punishment can exist without a legal ground.

The court, however, dismissed the defendant's arguments, stating that there is a legislative limit to list every new type of narcotics, and ruled that AM-2201 is the analogue of JWH-018 as the two drugs show similar effects and have very similar chemical structures. (Yonhap)