WNBA superstar Brittney Griner was back in a Russian courtroom on Tuesday as her defense team argued her marijuana use was for medicinal purposes.
Griner, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge earlier this month after being arrested in February for bringing vape cartridges into Russia, used marijuana to treat pain from her injuries, according to her defense team. There is no medical marijuana carve-out in Russian law.
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A narcology expert testified that medical marijuana is widely used by athletes to treat pain. Griner’s defense team summoned the expert.
The narcologist, Mikhail Tetyushkin, explained that “medical cannabis is a popular treatment specifically among athletes” in countries other than Russia.
“With the prescription in place, Brittney may have used it for medical but not recreational purposes,” said lawyer Maria Blagovolina, partner at Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners law firm, according to Reuters.
Griner, who traveled to Russia to play basketball in the WNBA offseason to supplement her income, faces a 10-year prison sentence in a judicial system that overwhelmingly finds defendants guilty of their alleged crimes.
The State Department deemed her to be “wrongfully detained” in early May, a designation that moves her case under the supervision of the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. The official, more recently, declined to explain why the department considered her “wrongfully detained,” saying the office “will not get into details of internal deliberative processes.”
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Griner’s treatment and detainment have made international headlines, and diplomatic efforts between the United States and Russia have been severely hampered since Russia invaded Ukraine.
