Rapper Bill Stax indicted on marijuana charges — at least the third time

Bill Stax (46), a rapper known from Mnet's "Show Me the Money" who previously performed under the name Basco and whose legal name is Shin Dong-yeol, has been indicted on charges of illegal drug use.

The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted Bill Stax on Friday on charges of violating the Narcotics Control Act, according to legal sources Wednesday.

He is accused of purchasing marijuana and marijuana-infused gummies from a drug dealer and consuming them in November last year.

The dealer, a man in his 30s, was found to have grown marijuana and manufactured marijuana gummies at his home from 2024 through June this year. The government's joint narcotics investigation task force, while tracing leads connected to the dealer, confirmed that Bill Stax and one other person had purchased and used marijuana products, sources said.

Bill Stax has been caught using drugs on multiple previous occasions. In 2006, he was indicted without detention for smoking marijuana. In 2015, he again smoked marijuana and also used ecstasy and cocaine, leading to another indictment without detention in 2018.

Bill Stax has long publicly advocated for the legalization of marijuana. When he released his fifth studio album "DETOX" in 2020, he said, "By my own standards, marijuana is not a drug, and I found it frustrating that society labels it as one without any reflection." He added, "The process of changing that perception feels to me like a detox. I hope that medical marijuana, which is already legal, will be deregulated further as soon as possible so everyone can benefit from it. Beyond that, I want to see recreational use legalized as well."

Bill Stax made his debut in 2004 with his first studio album "The Genesis" and has appeared on public broadcast television, including on tvN's "Show Me the Money" Season 3. He changed his stage name from Basco to the current one in 2016.