More than two dozen members of Congress are urging the State Department to escalate diplomatic efforts to secure the release of a U.S. citizen and medical marijuana patient who\u2019s imprisoned in Russia over cannabis.<\/p>\n
In a bipartisan letter led by Reps. Conor Lamb (D-PA) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), the lawmakers said that it\u2019s with \u201cutmost urgency\u201d that they request increased involvement from the Biden administration to bring Marc Fogel home after he was sentenced to 14 years in Russian prison for low-level marijuana possession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout this process Mr. Fogel has cooperated with Russian authorities and shown proof of his medical conditions, yet, on June 16, 2022, he was still sentenced to an unconscionable, 14-years of hard labor,\u201d the lawmakers wrote in the Monday letter, adding that he is a registered medical cannabis patient whose marijuana was \u201cpreviously prescribed by Mr. Fogel\u2019s doctor in the United States to treat his chronic pain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nToday @GReschenthaler<\/a>, @SenBobCasey<\/a> & I led a bipartisan letter to @StateDept<\/a> to classify #PA17<\/a> native Marc Fogel as wrongfully detained by Russia. It’s time for the U.S. government to step up & secure Mr. Fogel’s freedom. https:\/\/t.co\/1S5JqsrrVt<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Conor Lamb (@RepConorLamb) October 31, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
The fact that the bipartisan lawmakers made a point to defend Fogel\u2019s cannabis possession on the basis that it serves a legitimate medical purpose is notable, both because federal law currently contradicts that assessment and because of the diverse political ideologies of the letter\u2019s signatories.<\/p>\n
The coalition of nine senators and 16 House members wrote that the State Department should formally classify Fogel as a \u201cwrongfully detained\u201d person, a designation that the government has assigned to WNBA player Brittney Griner, whose recent appeal of a nine-year prison sentence over cannabis possession was rejected by a Russian court<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Fogel is reported to have been transferred to an undisclosed penal colony, and his family says they\u2019ve lost contact with him, according<\/a>\u00a0to The Daily Mail.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of the Moscow court\u2019s August 25 decision to deny Mr. Fogel\u2019s appeal and his ongoing transfer to a penal colony, we again request that you consider immediately classifying Mr. Fogel as wrongfully detained and prioritize your work to bring him safely home to his family,\u201d the letter<\/a> says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State Department has had ample time to reconsider the designation of Mr. Fogel, as over 120 and 50 days respectively have passed since his sentencing and appeal,\u201d it continues. \u201cWe implore you to give this case the priority and gravity it deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
The White House has said in July it\u2019s actively investigating Fogel\u2019s case<\/a>, and lawmakers have been keeping the pressure on to ensure it\u2019s doing all that it can to secure his release.<\/p>\n
Casey led a letter with other senators in August<\/a> that similarly asked the State Department to classify the citizen, an American teacher, as \u201cwrongfully detained.\u201d That came\u00a0a few weeks after other bipartisan members of Pennsylvania\u2019s congressional delegation similarly\u00a0pled with the State Department to escalate Fogel\u2019s case<\/a>, drawing parallels between his and Griner\u2019s cannabis-related convictions.<\/p>\n
This latest letter was signed by 25 members of Congress, including Sens. Pat Toomey (R-PA), Jon Tester (D-MT), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), as well as Reps. Dwight Evans (D-PA), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Seth Moulton (D-MA) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).<\/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
Meanwhile, Griner remains an active point of focus for the Biden administration. The basketball player, whose lawyer provided the Russian court with evidence that she was a registered medical cannabis patient<\/a>\u00a0in Arizona,\u00a0pleaded guilty to the possession charge<\/a> and received a nine-year prison sentence.<\/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\u00a0staged a protest outside of the White House<\/a> last month 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
Read the lawmakers\u2019 letter<\/a> on increasing diplomatic efforts to secure Marc Fogel\u2019s release below:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\nMarijuana Is A More Valuable Crop Than Potatoes Or Rice, New Leafly Report On Adult-Use Market Finds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n
The post Bipartisan Lawmakers Push Biden Administration To Free American Imprisoned For Medical Marijuana In Russia<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\nRead More: Bipartisan Lawmakers Push Biden Administration To Free American Imprisoned For Medical Marijuana In Russia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than two dozen members of Congress are urging the State Department to escalate diplomatic efforts to secure the release of a U.S. citizen and medical marijuana patient who\u2019s imprisoned in Russia over cannabis. In a bipartisan letter led by Reps. Conor Lamb (D-PA) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) and Sen.Continue 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\/57804"}],"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=57804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57805,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57804\/revisions\/57805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}