The U.S. government is strongly condemning a Russian court\u2019s decision to reject an appeal for WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil.<\/p>\n
As as the court handed down the ruling on Tuesday\u2014despite Griner\u2019s attorney providing proof that she was a registered medical cannabis patient in Arizona<\/a>\u2014another U.S. citizen who was convicted over marijuana in Russia has reportedly been transferred to a secret penal colony, without contact with his family.<\/p>\n That latter case hasn\u2019t received the same level of public attention from the White House, however. Marc Fogel, who formerly worked at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, was sentenced to 14 years in Russian prison for possession of 17 grams of cannabis, which he said he used for medical purposes to treat back pain.<\/p>\n For Griner, however, the U.S. State Department was relatively quick to assign her case as a wrongful detention<\/a>, escalating the urgency as President Joe Biden has worked to personally assure her family that the White House is doing everything it can to secure her release. There\u2019s some expectation that a prisoner swap may be on the table once the judicial appeals process is exhausted.<\/p>\n \u201cI was barely over the significant amount [of cannabis oil],\u201d Griner said at her appeals hearing, which she attended virtually from a penal colony outside of Moscow, according<\/a> to Reuters. \u201cPeople with more severe crimes have gotten less than what I was given.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s repeatedly said that she accidentally packed the cartridges in her luggage before her flight to Russia, where she was playing basketball during the WNBA off-season.<\/p>\n The Biden administration swiftly condemned the Russian court decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today,\u201d White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement<\/a> on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Biden has been very clear that Brittney should be released immediately,\u201d he said, adding that the administration \u201chas continued to engage with Russia through every available channel and make every effort to bring home Brittney as well as to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe President has demonstrated that he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths and make tough decisions to bring Americans home, as his Administration has done successfully from countries around the world. The Administration remains in regular touch with representatives of the families, and we continue to admire their courage in the face of these unimaginable circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n At a briefing later in the day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the Russian court ruling \u201cappalling,\u201d saying that it \u201conly increases the urgency of our efforts to bring Brittney home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will also continue to support and advocate for other Americans detained in Russia,\u201d she said, citing the case of Paul Whelan, an American detained in Russia for alleged spying and whom the administration has sought the release of along with Griner, reportedly via an offer for a high-level prisoner swap.<\/p>\n Jean-Pierre did not mention Fogel.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, WNBA also condemned the news out of Russia, saying that \u201cno athlete should be used as a political pawn.\u201d<\/p>\n WNBPA Statement Regarding Brittney Griner’s Appeal and a Call to Action.#WeAreBG<\/a>#BringBGHome<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/lpUyYtfyxC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 WNBPA (@TheWNBPA) October 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Fogel, meanwhile, is reported to have been transferred to an undisclosed penal colony, and his family says they\u2019ve lost contact with him, according<\/a> to The Daily Mail. The U.S. citizen, who was also a registered medical cannabis patient in Pennsylvania, was convicted of \u201clarge-scale\u201d drug smuggling over the small amount of marijuana.<\/p>\n A key difference in the case comes down to the fact that Griner\u2019s situation has been formally characterized as a wrongful detention by the U.S. government, whereas Fogel\u2019s case has not been given that designation.<\/p>\n As State Department spokesperson Ned Price explained in May, officials take into account 11-point criteria when determining whether\u00a0a given case amounts to a wrongful detention<\/a>. For example, if the U.S. has reason to believe that due process is being impaired, that the person was arrested solely because they are a U.S. national or that they are innocent of the stated charges, that would warrant a wrongful detention designation.<\/p>\n The White House has previously said it\u2019s actively investigating Fogel\u2019s case<\/a> as well. And in August, a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers put pressure on the Biden administration<\/a> to work to free Fogel.<\/p>\n Another coalition of bipartisan senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken<\/a> in August, urging attention to the case and arguing that he should be classified as wrongfully detained.<\/p>\n The administration has faced consistent criticism over domestic marijuana policy in the context of Griner\u2019s conviction and imprisonment, with advocates arguing that the U.S. would be better positioned to secure her release if it didn\u2019t also criminalize people over cannabis.<\/p>\n Biden did issue a mass pardon this month to all Americans who\u2019ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses, but advocates have pushed for further reform to ensure that nobody is in prison over cannabis. A collection of advocacy organizations staged a protest outside of the White House<\/a> on Monday to raise attention to the issue.<\/p>\n Russia, for its part, has taken a particularly strong stance\u00a0against reforming cannabis policy at the international level<\/a>\u00a0through the United Nations. And it\u00a0condemned\u00a0Canada for legalizing marijuana nationwide.<\/p>\n The deputy of Russia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in March that legalization efforts in the U.S. and Canada are matters \u201cof serious concern for us,\u201d according to a social media post from the office\u2019s official account. \u201cIt is worrisome that several Member States of the [European Union] are considering violating their drug control obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n Biden Health Secretary Has Already Talked To FDA About Marijuana Scheduling Review, Which Will Move \u2018Quickly\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Image element courtesy of Lorie Shaull\/Wikimedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post White House Condemns \u2018Sham\u2019 Russian Court After Brittney Griner\u2019s Cannabis Appeal Denied, While Another American Marijuana Prisoner Cut Off From Family<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The U.S. government is strongly condemning a Russian court\u2019s decision to reject an appeal for WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. As as the court handed down the ruling on Tuesday\u2014despite Griner\u2019s attorney providing proof that sheContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57744,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57743\/revisions\/57744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: White House Condemns \u2018Sham\u2019 Russian Court After Brittney Griner\u2019s Cannabis Appeal Denied, While Another American Marijuana Prisoner Cut Off From Family<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"