Changsha County People’s Court sentenced defendant Zhang to ten months in prison and a 6,000-yuan fine for illegally cultivating cannabis in a company dormitory, Rednet reported on 26 June 2025 in a court publicity release ahead of the International Day against Drug Abuse.[1] Guangming republished the same account on 27 June.[2]
The court found that in June 2024 Zhang took nine cannabis seeds from a friend, germinated eight of them in paper cups and moved the seedlings into flowerpots about 20 cm wide at a company dorm in Huangxing, Changsha County.[2][1] On 19 August 2024 at about 17:00 he packed the eight plants into a box and moved them to a company rubbish station; police arrested him at about 22:00 the same night and seized the plants.[2][1]
Zhang had already been convicted twice for illegal cultivation, receiving four months’ detention and a 1,000-yuan fine in 2021 and seven months’ imprisonment and a 5,000-yuan fine in 2022.[2][1] The court held that planting again after those sentences met the threshold for illegal cultivation of drug crops.[2][1]
The reports did not spell out Zhang’s full name or any sentence for the friend who supplied the seeds.[2][1]
