Jarred Shaw, a 35-year-old American forward/center, is in pretrial custody in Jakarta after being arrested in May. According to Indonesian media, he faces charges that could bring life imprisonment or even the death penalty under the country’s strict drug laws.
Authorities say Shaw imported 132 cannabis candies from Thailand worth around 400 US dollars. He insists they were solely for medical reasons tied to Crohn’s disease.
“I use cannabis as medicine,” he told The Guardian from prison. “I have an inflammatory condition called Crohn’s disease that’s incurable. There’s no medicine apart from cannabis that stops my stomach from aching.”
Shaw stressed he doesn’t use cannabis recreationally.
“I don’t use it to have fun and go party. With my stomach condition, sometimes it’s hard for me to keep food down or go to the toilet. It just soothes the pain a little bit.”
His arrest cost him a lifetime ban from the Indonesian Basketball League, just a year after winning the 2023 championship with Prawira Bandung.
A well-traveled pro, Shaw has played in Turkey, the G League, and in countries across Asia, South America, and the Middle East, focusing his career in Indonesia over the past three years with his most recent stop at the Tangerang Hawks.
An American player is facing a possible death sentence in Indonesiahttps://t.co/E18kybrUDM
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) October 7, 2025
