Just say "no" or else

A boy I have met a few times decided to buy a 3 pills as did his two other friends. The police stopped them at the checkpoint and caught them with the narcotics. The rules are pretty straightforward....1 year for each pill. He is not sure if each boy has to go to jail for 3 years or if they will need to go to jail for 9 years since they were carrying a total of 9 pills. Pretty tough stuff.