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Jury trial set for man with CBD and accused of marijuana possession

American Samoa High Court building
reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The government's case against a man charged with one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) will be heard by a jury.

During a pretrial conference in High Court yesterday morning,  Brandon Peterson's attorney noted that discovery has been turned over and his client wants to go to trial.

The charges against Peterson stem from an incident that occurred May 22, 2018 when he was disembarking a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu.

Peterson is alleged to have been in possession of an unlabeled bottle — used for electronic cigarettes — the contents of which tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

Peterson is facing a class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

According to the criminal complaint, Peterson told investigators that he has been having chronic pain for over 15 years, and the doctors suggested CBD to help him. Peterson said he had CBD oil in his e-cigarette but did not think it was illegal, and he purchased one bottle of CBD in Hawai’i for pain and inflammation.

Peterson further stated that prior to boarding the airplane, he poured the contents from his e-cigarette and replaced it with nicotine. When he was leaving Hawai’i, Peterson had a cannabis chocolate that melted in his pocket, and that's what the Customs canine alerted to.