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Carrie Russell, 26, was released Tuesday after spending 18 days in a Japanese detention center on suspicion of smuggling Adderall into Japan. Japanese law classifies Adderall, commonly prescribed in the United States to treat attention deficit disorder, as an illegal amphetamine.

(Family photo)

A prosecutor has freed an Oregon woman jailed in Japan on suspicion of smuggling Adderall into the country, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said late Monday.

This story has been updated

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for new story with interview of Carrie Russell.

Carrie Russell, 26, was released Tuesday near Nagoya, Japan, after diplomatic maneuvers by officials including Wyden and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy. Russell spent 18 days in a women's detention center. She plans to return to Oregon, but is free to enter Japan again, minus Adderall.

"I'm thrilled that common sense has won the day and that Carrie is being released to her family,'' said Wyden, quoted in a news release. "I want to thank Ambassador Kennedy and her staff for working closely with our office and their Japanese counterparts to get her released."

Russell's case attracted international attention after Feb. 20, when she was arrested in a Tokyo restaurant on suspicion of sending an unmarked bottle of amphetamines from South Korea to her address in Nagoya, a city 275 miles west of the capital. Her mother, Jill Russell, of Hillsboro, said the bottle merely contained a prescription refill that she had mailed to her daughter, who takes Adderall for attention deficit disorder.

Adderall, however, is illegal in Japan. Japanese Customs officials may have been especially suspicious because the 180 pills were not in their original prescription bottle. Inspectors found the unmarked container in a box of household supplies that Carrie Russell sent to herself in Nagoya in preparation for starting an English-teaching job there.

Jill Russell said she had repackaged the Adderall to protect against theft and to guard her daughter's privacy in Japan, where mental health conditions can be stigmatized. The Adderall was prescribed by Carrie Russell's doctor, Michelle Mears.

Controversy raged on the Internet after a March 1 story about Carrie Russell on OregonLive.com. Some commenters faulted the mother for repackaging medication. Others criticized the daughter for disregarding or failing to research Japanese laws.

Other on-line commenters said they felt Japanese authorities were harsh to jail someone for a medication commonly prescribed in the United States. Family members worried that Russell could spend years in jail for a mistake they said was innocent.

Russell's stepfather, Portland attorney Loren Podwill, traveled to Japan, arriving in time for her release. He said that charges were never filed in the case.

Podwill said the family wanted to thank Kennedy and Wyden, as well as U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D.-Ore., who worked for the release, along with staff members for U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.

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