Brittney Griner was back in a Russian courtroom on Tuesday as her defense team attempted to lay out a defense about why she had marijuana at a Moscow airport. Griner pleaded guilty to a drug charge earlier this month. She was accused of bringing in vape cartridges containing oils derived from cannabis through a Moscow airport in February and has been detained ever since.
Griner’s defense argued she used medical marijuana to treat pain from injuries like many other professional athletes. Medical marijuana is against the law in Russia.
“We are not arguing that Brittney took it here as a medicine. We are still saying that she involuntarily brought it here because she was in a rush,” defense attorney Alexander Boykov said. “The Russian public has to know, and the Russian court in the first place has to know, that it was not used for recreational purposes in the United States. It was prescribed by a doctor.”
The U.S. State Department has classified Griner as “wrongfully detained.” Griner acknowledged she had the canisters with her but had no intention of breaking the law. There have been many rumors that Griner could be exchanged for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is imprisoned in the U.S. Russian authorities have said that no swap could take place until Griner is sentenced.
She has yet to be sentenced and could face up to 10 years in jail.
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Another hearing was then scheduled for Wednesday.
