US basketball star Brittney Griner treated injuries with medical cannabis, defense argues

KHIMKI, Russia: The defense team of US basketball player Brittney Griner, detained in Russia on drug charges, argued in court on Tuesday that she had used medical cannabis to assuage pain from injuries, like many other elite international athletes. Griner, a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star who has played in Russia during the league’s offseason, was detained at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17 with vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

Medical marijuana is illegal in Russia. She faces a possible jail sentence of up to 10 years in a case that has highlighted the fraught relations between Russia and the United States at a time of heightened tension over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine. A narcology expert summoned by the defense argued that medical cannabis was widely used to treat athletes where it was legal, and often had fewer side effects than other painkillers.

“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. Wearing round-rimmed glasses and a black and grey sweatshirt with “Black Lives For Peace” on the back, Griner listened to the proceedings via a translator. Before taking a seat in the defendant’s cage, she held up a lined sheet of paper with pictures of her two best friends, a teammate and her wife Cherelle wearing her #42 Phoenix Mercury jersey, her WNBA team.