The case of Jarred Dwayne Shaw, an American basketball player in Indonesia, shines a spotlight on the country’s archaic cannabis laws. Shaw, a former player for the Santa Cruz Warriors and a current member of Indonesia’s basketball league, was arrested earlier this month for possessing 132 cannabis candies. Under Indonesia’s insane drug policies, Shaw could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty by firing squad, reports AP News.

It’s shocking, to put it mildly, that authorities are still pursuing such extreme punishments in 2025 over non-lethal substances like cannabis. While the world continues to gather evidence of marijuana’s medical and therapeutic properties, regions like Southeast Asia remain attached to outdated frameworks at significant human cost.

Is Cannabis in Southeast Asia Reluctantly Crawling Toward Reform?

Southeast Asia has historically held some of the harshest drug laws in the world, a stance enforced by harsh penalties, including capital punishment for drug-related offenses. Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines have long been infamous for their heavy-handed approaches. Yet, it’s riddled with irony. Ancient texts and history document the region’s long-standing relationship with cannabis. For centuries, marijuana served culinary, medicinal, and spiritual roles in parts of Asia.

However, post-colonial influences, fueled by the global “war on drugs,” swept these traditions under the rug, leaving many nations to pursue zero-tolerance policies. Indonesia maintains some of the strictest drug laws around the globe. Being caught with even small quantities of marijuana can lead to years behind bars. For cases like Jarred Dwayne Shaw’s, involving alleged smuggling, the consequences escalate to life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Only one Southeast Asian nation, Thailand, has taken steps in rethinking its cannabis strategy in recent years. In 2022, the country decriminalized cannabis for medical purposes, which effectively made it legal at the time. The law limits cannabis extracts and products to 0.2% THC content. While this move put Thailand as a regional pioneer in terms of marijuana regulation, it also sparked debate and backlash, reflecting the deeply ingrained resistance to change.

Why Indonesia’s Misstep Reflects Archaic Thinking Toward Cannabis

What sharpens the irony is the trajectory of global cannabis reform. For decades, researchers globally have proven that cannabis is far less harmful than other substances, including legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol is widely consumed in Indonesia, while marijuana users face severe legal consequences. This stark difference in laws raises an important question—is Indonesia’s approach to cannabis genuinely about public safety, or does it rely on outdated, fear-driven policies from decades ago?

Many studies indicate that prohibitive laws like Indonesia’s fail to achieve their intended result. For instance, strict anti-cannabis laws fail to curb consumption or eliminate criminal networks. Instead, they push cannabis use further underground, opening users to criminal elements and reducing their access to safe, regulatory avenues. This means more people potentially get hurt, and less societal benefit is derived from cannabis’s vast potential applications.

A Global Perspective

Globally, opinions surrounding cannabis are evolving at a breakneck pace. Over 50 countries have legalized cannabis for medicinal use, and numerous nations are in various stages of analyzing its full decriminalization. Nations such as Canada, Uruguay, and nearly half of the states in the U.S. have shown undeniable progress, not just in implementing regulated cannabis markets, but in how public perception surrounding marijuana continues to flip.

Meanwhile, a growing body of research supports its use for treating chronic pain, epilepsy, PTSD, and even mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. These examples are already influencing the evolution of marijuana policies worldwide.

Yet, even a little progress seems to breed ludicrous paradoxes. A place like Thailand can decriminalize marijuana while a country next door like Indonesia imposes life-or-death stakes for cannabis edibles. It’s not a developmental gap; it’s fear and stigma tied to decades-old propaganda.

The Case Beyond Jarred Shaw

Jarred Shaw’s case should not only spark outrage because it involves an American citizen or because of the harsh punishment he faces. We must focus on how broader reforms can prevent such incidents from happening in the first place. People like Shaw are victims of outdated policies that are long past their expiry date.

Countries like Indonesia must ask themselves whether penalties like the death sentence actually improve public welfare or deter drug use. Shaw, it appears, had no intent beyond simple possession, and giving fellow basketball players some cannabis candy. Yet the framework judging him treats his actions as worse than, or as far graver offenses.

Even if Indonesia wishes to maintain restrictions on drugs, the penalties must align with the offense. Criminal justice should reduce harm, deliver equal interventions, and rehabilitate where possible. Arbitrary extremes like execution chip away at human equity instead of safeguarding public health.

Time for Public Voices and a Policy Overhaul

Indonesia is approaching its moment of reckoning. Its cannabis policies are not working. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has voiced how Southeast Asia’s highly restrictive drug laws often infringe upon the fundamental rights of individuals without truly achieving societal safety. Reform doesn’t indicate failure; rather, it invites inclusion and adaptation per evolving knowledge bases.

What’s happening to Jarred Dwayne Shaw is unjust, inhumane, and deeply flawed. His story isn’t just a tragic account of how outdated laws trapped him. It’s a cry to confront systems that criminalize rather than educate, punish rather than rehabilitate.

As we watch the world gradually embrace the reality of marijuana as less harmful than legal counterparts, nations like Indonesia risk isolating themselves from proven paths forward. Reexamining these policies is not just a moral obligation; it’s an opportunity to engage in meaningful progress that protects both its citizens and visitors.

If these lessons go without fighting, the tragedy of stories like Jarred Shaw’s will echo through the history of reform as the cautionary tale of a nation lagging behind global progress.