Brittney Griner Had Prescription for Drug She Brought to Russia, Lawyers Say

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: New York Times

Brittney Griner’s lawyers argued on Friday that the American basketball star had a medical prescription for the drug that she mistakenly carried into Russia, where she has been detained for nearly five months amid Moscow’s escalating tensions with Washington over the war in Ukraine.

As Ms. Griner’s trial on drug charges resumed at a courtroom outside Moscow, her defense team provided medical documents showing that she had a prescription for medical cannabis for chronic pain, according to Reuters.

The Russian authorities accused Ms. Griner in February of having two vape cartridges with hashish oil — a cannabis derivative — in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. The 31-year-old Phoenix Mercury star and two-time Olympic gold medalist had traveled there to play with UMMC Yekaterinburg, a Russian team, during the W.N.B.A. off-season.

She was charged with willfully smuggling the vape cartridges, violating Russian laws prohibiting the import of narcotics.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/brittney-griner-had-prescription-for-drug-she-brought-to-russia-lawyers-say/ar-AAZC07z

[getagrip_already]

1. first, this is russia, they don't care.....

But frankly this type of charge is not unusual in the drugs are bad legal system. Even in the US, people have been arrrested and convicted on felony charges for possession of drug paraphernalia with residues of illegal drugs.

It's stupid. It's wrong. But a prescription will only annoy the russian court.

[TheBlackAdder]

17. Didn't she enter the country with it, but was she stopped on entry or on exit?

[secondwind]

18. Why do I think she was leaving the country when she was stopped......

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. One or two reports said she was leaving, but most say arriving

which include the official statement from Russian customs saying she was arriving, and also a statement (on video) by her lawyers (I had an argument on a blog about this, with someone simultaneously asserting she was leaving, and that it made no sense for her to be leaving with drugs, so that they must have been planted). To be precise, I think she had arrived in Moscow from New York, and was going to take a connecting flight to Ekaterinburg.

[Chicago1980]

2. Doesn't matter...

And, you already said you packed fast and that it was an accident... Now you're saying you have a prescription...? Come on!

[maxsolomon]

7. Medical Marijuana is a thing in some states.

Prior to legalization for Recreational Use.

So, she probably does have a scrip, but that's only a mitigating factor. It won't excuse the offense.

[obamanut2012]

10. Soem states have both rec and medical

FL has Medical only, but in some states that have only rec, I can show my FLMMJ card and actually get a discount.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. This is the sentencing phase. Accident AND prescription, logically

Logically, if you have a prescription that is "as needed", you don't automatically pack the medication.

Likewise, if you have a prescription and the medication is around, you could easily in a distracted moment pack it.

This is the sentencing phase, so different kinds of evidence are introduced. A prescription would not have swayed Putin's court on guilt. But it can put public pressure on their system in the sentencing phase. Plus it makes it harder to keep her if a prisoner swap is being negotiated, as may be the case.

[maxsolomon]

3. Just get it over with. The only questions are

1. what the sentence will be.
2. what Russia will extort in exchange for Griner AND Whelan.
3. how much can Biden be blamed for not waving his magic wand and teleporting Griner home.

[oldsoftie]

4. So what? They'd just make something else up.

If all else fails, they'd call her a "spy"

[ripcord]

5. That doesn't even fly here in states where cannabis isn't yet legal

[IronLionZion]

6. Her real crime is being American

Russia probably wants something in return for her release

[colorado_ufo]

9. This should be a cautionary tale for athletes

who want to extend their playing season by playing for Russia. It is too easy for them to become political pawns and too difficult to extract themselves from the situation.

[harumph]

8. And this is relevant to Russian law - how?

[LisaL]

11. At least I hope that wil make people to stop arguing that she was framed.

Clearly she wasn't framed.

[getagrip_already]

13. not framed - railroaded.....

Is this a crime she would have even been arrested for if she weren't an american?

Is the penalty one that a russian citizen would receive for the same offense?

It's a kangaroo court trial. The facts are merely a convenience. They aren't a concern.

[LisaL]

14. Yes it's a crime in Russia.

We don't know yet what penalty she is going to get.

Here is another lady who got convicted of having a small amount of cannabis.
"Issachar was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 7½ years in prison after 0.3 ounces of marijuana was found in her luggage during a three-hour layover in Moscow while traveling from India to Israel. Issachar spent 10 months in prison before she was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2022/07/13/brittney-griner-has-support-woman-jailed-russia-over-cannabis/10055064002/

[questionseverything]

15. Poor people still go to prison in America for hash/mj

[walkingman]

20. Like most everything else in America.....f'd up.

[moniss]

16. Apparently in Russia

it's perfectly OK to wallow in vodka, purposely poison people with radioactive materials, push people to their deaths from high balconies, commit gangland thuggery, attempt to assassinate your political foes, eviscerate any semblance of civil liberties etc. but getting high is a bridge too far. Now we know where the GQP get their "logic" from.