Three American basketball players get suspended terms for cannabis
The Suwon District Court on 13 April 2009 gave American players Terrence Shannon, DeAngelo Collins and Calvin Warner six-month prison terms suspended for one year for smoking marijuana at a Seoul hotel in January. Collins admitted the charge while Shannon and Warner denied it, and all three had already been expelled by their clubs.
🇰🇷 Suwon District Court, Suwon, Gyeonggi Province · South Korea
Three American professional basketball players, Terrence Shannon and DeAngelo Collins of the Seoul SK Knights and Calvin Warner of the Anyang KT&G Kites, were sentenced by the Suwon District Court on 13 April 2009 to six months in prison suspended for one year for smoking marijuana at a downtown Seoul hotel in January.[1]Collins, who had left his team and South Korea with a knee injury, admitted the charge, while Shannon and Warner pleaded not guilty.[1]Shannon and Warner had been expelled from their clubs in February.[1]
Prosecution
Local prosecutors gave the players hair tests: Collins and Shannon tested positive for marijuana while Warner’s result was unreadable.[2]Collins was cut by his team in late January and the marijuana suspicions surfaced a day later, and Shannon and Warner were cut from their respective teams in late February.[2]All three were indicted for marijuana use in Seoul, though none had been formally convicted when the case was reported on 2 March.[2]
The law
Under South Korean law, marijuana users face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won (about $33,300).[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
On 8 October 2026 the Suwon District Court sentenced a 53-year-old Korean resident of Japan, a former yakuza member, to 10 years for importing 636 kg of cannabis from Laem Chabang in Thailand to Incheon on 23 March. Prosecutors had asked for 20 years. The drugs were forfeited.
South Korea's Supreme Court on 3 July 2025 upheld actor Yoo Ah-in's one-year prison term suspended for two years and 2 million won fine for habitual drug use that included smoking marijuana in the United States. The ruling, which dismissed the prosecution's appeal for a heavier sentence, ended a 19-month case and confirmed the release he won when an appellate court set aside his prison term.
Seoul Central District Court sentenced former BTOB member Jung Il-hoon to two years in prison on 10 June 2021 for habitually buying and smoking marijuana from 2016 to 2019. Seven co-defendants were also sentenced to 18 months to two years, and Jung was taken into custody immediately.
The Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced singer Choi Daniel, 21, to one year in prison and a 7.16 million won forfeiture for buying, brokering and smoking cannabis, and jailed him in the courtroom. Actor Cha Seung-won's son Cha Noah, 24, was given six months suspended for two years for smoking cannabis two or three times.
