Teen busted for dealing drugs avoids prison sentence, set to study law
The teen's apartment was raided as part of an investigation into an "upstream" dealer.
A U.K. teenager that was swept up in larger drug investigation has avoided jail, partly because he’s now enrolled in law courses at his local university.
Now 20, the teen was allegedly recruited and groomed to sell drugs to fellow university students by a “known supplier” in the area of Swansea, reports Wales Online.
The teen allegedly supplied “substantial” amounts of cocaine, cannabis, ketamine and ecstasy while living in an area popular with students.
His apartment was raided as part of an investigation into an “upstream” dealer and police found evidence of dealing on the teen’s phone.
The defendant admitted to selling drugs beginning in February of this year in order to pay his rent and gym fees, among other costs. The court heard he had transferred about £9,000 ($15, 300) to his supplier’s bank account, per Wales Online.
The teen’s lawyer argued that he had been “naive in the extreme” and was influenced by people who “groomed” students with little to no income to supply drugs . Further, the teen had been too ashamed to admit to his family he had withdrawn from his initial university courses and stayed in the area in hopes of starting a new degree. The lawyer added the defendant had since been offered a place at Swansea University in the next academic year to study law.
The accused was dealing both Class A and Class B drugs. Under U.K. law , Class A drugs include things like MDMA, LSD and mushrooms and can lead to charges of as long as seven years in prison for possession. Class B drugs include cannabis, ketamine and amphetamines and can to lead a five-year prison sentence for possession. In each case, unlimited fines can also be applied.
Data released this year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that there was not a significant change or increase in the percentage of students who consumed cannabis across several U.S. states that have moved to legalize the plant.
Similarly, a Canadian study published in the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child Psychiatry this year found “little substantiative evidence to support the claim” that legalization has resulted in an increase in youth cannabis consumption or that it has posed a “threat to youth.”
“Regarding prevalence, there appears to have been no marked increase in cannabis use by youth in Canada yet,” the authors wrote.
Follow us on Instagram
Connect with us on Linkedin