American student Daniel Chong, 23, is to sue the Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA) for $20m after being mistakenly left in a cell for five days.
Chong, who was hauled in by police on 20 April as part of a drugs bust (a day known as a traditional pot smokers' holiday) that netted 18,000 pills, drugs and weapons, was left in solitary confinement for five days after his arrest.
During that time, the University of California student alleges he was forced to drink his own urine as he was kept without food, drink or a toilet for the duration of his imprisonment.
Chong and his lawyer, Eugene Iredale, will now sue the DEA for damages for pain and suffering, future medical and psychiatric treatment, and loss of future earnings on the basis that Chong's treatment constituted torture.
The DEA has since apologised to Chong, who smeared his own faeces on the door, banged, screamed and kicked in the hope of raising attention to his plight.
He also alleges to have had hallucinations of Japanese anime characters telling him to dig his way out. Chong began having the hallucinations the day after consuming a white powder in the corner of his cell.
While police confirmed it to be methamphetamine, Chong says he ingested it out of desperation.
Chong says he eventually lost the will to try and escape after he failed to trigger a fire alarm in the cell.
He bit into his glasses to carve 'Sorry Mom' into his arm, believing he would die of dehydration but could not complete the message.
After a number of days, guards discovered the student, apparently unaware of who he was. He was taken away by paramedics and treated for dehydration and perforated esophagus from swallowing a glass shard. He remained in hospital for five days, three in intensive care, before being released on Sunday.
You can see an interview with Chong below...