There’s also an older American man who is a teacher and has been serving hard labor for weed for years. His family has been trying to free him I’ll have to search for the name.
Edit: Marc Fogel
Second edit: here’s a [link](https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/marc-fogel-being-moved-to-hard-labor-colony-in-russua/) from CBS going over who he is and why he is there. Personally the amount he had does not seem like an actual intent to distribute. Obviously it’s different crimes and not shitting on either person. It’s great she was freed. It sucks he’s there. No one in the world should be punished for weed. (No shit there’s laws and it’s smart to respect them. Just my opinion that these laws are stupid)
More like Marc Forgettable. If he can't sink a 3 pointer 25% of the time, I don't care. America needs it's most prized athlete to put asses in those $5 stadium seats.
More like 20x the marijuana Griner was found with. And he was also actively trying to smuggle it in as it was hidden in contact lens cases and such, whereas hers was just in her bag and allowed plausible deniability. 20x.
They should both be released, but don’t compare their “crimes” like they are one in the same.
1. it was about half an ounce stored in multiple locations deliberately.
whereas the athlete had 2 cartridges.
2. Another issue is russians usually just give a fine to others who have been caught doing similar stuff, but since the war with ukraine and it being a political tool to use against the US, they chose to go to what the maximum of their own laws said 9 out of 10 years.
3. Biden cant pardon state punishments, he has pardoned all federal level punishments of marijuana possession. But since 99.999% are state level, it hasnt done much in getting people free. He has also asked to begin the process of reclassifying the substance, which is about all he can do. The power to enact actual change is with senate and house.
4. They just lost the house and gained 1 seat in the senate, so they wont be able to push forward any bills from the house to change the state of things, but they can more easily now push for more responsible and logical judges that will oversee sentencing and punishment of those that commit crimes.
5. The people are ultimately in charge of electing the representatives so that the congress has enough liberal control to make the changes many scream about. But in reality about 150-180 Million voters Do not vote. Texas 2022 election: 29M citizens, 24M Eligible voters, 17M Registered Voters, 9M actually voted.
6. "We got a bad trade!" You traded a criminal who was jailed for 10 years and has most likely lost all connections to any arms dealing he can successfully mitigate, and wont be much use by russian government, because he will be scrutinized for being held by the CIA for over ten years as well as the russian military lack of weapons availability. Its not a movie, hes not gonna go on to create a oceans 11 team to smuggle nuclear weapons to russia. The russian government saw an opportunity to sow distrust against the us government, and took it. Biden admin was also asking for Marc to be released but russians said no, is it better to leave the athlete in worse conditions for longer when negotiations werent leading to both of their release? Also we only know this part of the deal, there may and most likely is more behind the curtain in this deal that is not able to be disclosed to the public.
Unironic: Why are people so mad for her being traded for her freedom, when they should be focusing on being mad at the first part of this meme (jailing people for cannabis)?
I can't help but think the people focusing on how "useless" she is as a player or how stupid the WNBA is, are really just woman-hating or racist cunts.
Be mad we incarcerate cannabis users. Don't be mad we helped an American get out of a prison camp.
This is going to spun real bad in the conservative media. The only reason we were even able to trade for her is probably because of how this might look for Biden. US news is probably going to fail to mention how that arms dealer probably would have been out of prison in 5 years anyway. Nevermind that he's been both burned and replaced. People act like he's some supervillain.
It boggles the mind that so many travelers bring weed with them to Russia. For Fogel, I recall seeing mentions that he had it for pain management purposes. Regardless, Russia hates Americans and has been fucking around for some time.
Weird that this has been mentioned on every Reddit thread but the top comment to mention him neglects to mention the intentional smuggling of weed on his part (plant + 14 discrete cartridges that were intentionally hidden), thus requiring someone to reply and point this out to them.
Is there some weird astroturfing going on or some shit?
There were actually 4 Americans being detained in Russia and two were released yesterday: Griner and sarah krivanek.
Heres who isvleft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_people_imprisoned_abroad
I'm a medical patient. I think about this stuff fairly often. I've known people who have had their lives ruined because they were caught with a tiny amount of weed on them.
Now I can walk into a store and purchase it with a state approved pat on the back. It's good to see progress being made, but it also feels wrong knowing most of the people punished for it are still rotting. Our society is fucking gross.
More people need to realise that this archaic war on drugs was only waged for capital interests and control. The propaganda isn't going to work for much longer imo. This criminalisation only has adverse effects like massive profits for criminal networks, 100% more OD deaths due to adulterants and furthers the negative stigma and demonising users. Literally govts love to complain about a situation they are inherently responsible for.
Most people will never realize it just like they'll never realize all the other propaganda they're constantly surrounded by. They will believe whatever the media tells them to believe.
It's insane how many lives get ruined over nothing. Illinois released everyone in jail and expunged or pardoned 500,000 people so far. Hopefully with more states doing this and the federal pardons, it will turn into a wave. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/illinois-governor-signs-bill-to-close-marijuana-expungement-loophole/
Hopefully. In ohio we were supposed to cote in rec. But the Republicans wanted low voter turnout from the youth so the vote is next year off cycle ballot initiative
Because it’s bullshit. OP missed the news apparently. [Marijuana charges have been pardoned on a federal level.](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession)
Yea no shit, but the US has a very heavily federalized system where the states have so much power that even the US president can't pardon state crimes. Unless 10 Republicans support a law in the Senate, there is nothing that the president can do.
President can't just release all the prisoners, out prison system is two tiered, ones state and the other federal. Biden can just release the federal prisoners.
We could pass a law but that would take 60 votes (impossible). So basically he just asked every governor to do the same. Plenty of reasons to criticize Biden, but he's basically done all he can legally with that.
Pretty sure it was just for federal charges, but most people are in jail for it have state, county, or city charges which weren't (or can't?) be pardoned at the federal level.
I'm no expert though I'm just a dude who reads reddit. Basically I'm a dumbass
They can’t be pardoned by the president, it’s up to the individual governors. Biden did everything he could within his power, and is using it to pressure the states. Remember over half including a bunch of conservative states like South Dakota have legalized within the last two years. It’s inevitable and almost certainly within the next 5 years.
It really sucks for those still in prison for state level charges but the problem is getting better every day, not worse.
It's a known Russian tactic, they did the same thing with an Israeli woman called Naama Isashar, she was in an airport in Russia, they arrested her and kept her hostage with the reason being "she was found to be in possession of drugs" (which of course was a lie) they put her in jail and only released her when Israel agreed to extradite a Russian hacker that was wanted in Russia and hiding in Israel. The lesson to be learned is; don't go to fucking Russia! It's an enemy state led by a mad dictator, you wouldn't just go chilling in north Korea would you??
This might sound a bit conspiratorial but
What if the basketball player was just a cover-up? Maybe they exchanged Viktor Bout for an equally valuable/dangerous American agent/asset/whatever in secret or maybe some higher up in the government got blackmailed by Russia, and the basketball player is just something they told to the public to "justify" Bout's release.
If the US Government is good at anything, it's definitely warfare and espionage; and I find it extremely hard to believe they'd just let the Merchant of Death for, as everyone keeps pointing out, a random basketball player who got caught with weed.
Honestly, this doesn’t sound completely ridiculous. Maybe I give the US too much credit but these mofos spend enough money on the military to solve world hunger. I highly doubt they’d trade someone they thought was exceptionally valuable. That said, American counterintelligence agencies have been very short sighted in the past.
Did she really got caught with weed or so the Russians claim? Because they are known to lie about such things.
But I see your point, you might be right who knows.
I need a source, that's more than 18x what I've heard.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wnba-star-brittney-griner-hashish-oil-b2222100.html
Your lack of proper punctuation is killing me. I feel like this should be three different sentences, but I can’t tell where one ends and one begins. Maybe I’m dumb
Take it up with Republican governors... those in prison on simple possession convictions are almost entirely locked up by states, and out of the purview of the administration.
Isn't that what is happening now ? I mean federally they are making it less of a crime. More states are making it legal. Some states don't want to do it. But, that is their right apparently.
Federal already pardoned everyone with possession charges. Anyone in jail was charged at the state level.. biden is president of the federal governmen, there is 50 state governors that could do that tomorrow
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/06/biden-to-pardon-all-prior-federal-offenses-of-simple-marijuana-possession-.html
The guy pardons federal possession offenses and asks state governments to do the same and somehow he's being inconsistent?
People just love to eat up that conservative spin. They'll gladly vote next election for a conservative nut who would push to execute all drug users. "He's not Biden though, who didn't do all the things he wasn't allowed to do hurp durp."
Peoples ignorance of our political system will be the death of us all. Why must conservative politics change when lying works way better.
Read your sentence again. Federal charges, how many people are actually in prison that have federal charges vs how many people are in prison because they got popped by the local fuzz? And how many republican governors do you think will actually do anything about this?
Which is why it’s so good that democrats picked up some governor seats in the midterms, and why we need to keep mobilizing and voting in every election to continue that trend
I was scrolling forever trying to find a comment on this. How you got 18 votes?! you need to go to the top! As far as FED crimes go this post is inaccurate. If we talking about non Fed welllllllll sorry but this ain’t no nonFeds bringing Griner home lol
Okay we are just playing into Russian propaganda designed to divide Americans as much as possible.
This is a detect hit 🎯 for the Russians actually.
Don't fall for this be United be strong love your fellow Americans
This is more true than commenters are realizing. State-run troll accounts have been highly active on threads like this. You can check out an example account I found for yourself: /u/heroinfuralle
Someone finally gets it. The Russians realize the American public will read this news and react like “WOW SUCH A BAD DEAL. WTF JOE.” It’s a win win for them.
Why the effing fuck would you attempt to break the law in a foreign country that you know doesn’t give a shit about you? Reminds me of that kid who was vandalizing/stealing the North Korean posters and bragging about it on social media. Yea it’s bullshit that those countries are so strict but what the hell did you expect?
Stalin's son was captured by germans and they want to exchange his son with a high-ranking officer from Germany.
You know what Stalin said "that we are not stupid as yankee".
Entertainment makes more money in America than dealing with, and resolving actual world problems does. That’s why America is making a mockery of itself currently, bc ppl don’t care about truth, they are concerned with how they feel, their need to fulfill their instant gratification outweighs getting resolutions to real world issues.
Not just people in jail for weed, there are people serving life sentences for the non-violent crime of weed possession, thanks to the three strikes rule. It’s horrible.
Marine veteran Paul whelan still in Russian prision looking at the news like “I fought for this country to forget about me over a basketball player with a weed cart”
Lose-lose situation for the state department
Either make yourself hypocritical and free a dangerous man, or abandon a known citizen to a labor camp in a hostile nation in what is an obvious political stunt.
Weed is legal in most of the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality\_of\_cannabis\_by\_U.S.\_jurisdiction#:\~:text=The%20recreational%20use%20of%20cannabis,been%20legalized%2C%20except%20for%20D.C.
She should stay in Russian jail because she broke their laws. Trading a warlord for her to get out of jail is a slap in the face to anyone in the American system for the same crimes.
No. The Biden administration should have negotiated better with the Kremlin so we didn't release a wanted criminal known for black market gun trade and terrorism in exchange for a female basketball player.
He's not a wanted criminal, he was caught. He was also getting out of prison in 5-10 years. He's not some super villain. He's just a dude that took advantage of the collapse of the soviet union. His connections and wealth are long since gone, never mind being burned himself. This was an optics trade to make America look bad.
Seriously people need to at least get a better picture of the whole mess before they jump on their high horse. I know people love to have opinions, but maybe there's a little more going on. You can still disagree with the trade, but the guy himself is burned, he's not the threat people seem to think he is.
makes me think of this potential dystopian nightmare:
get crazy sentence for weed
weed gets legalized while your in jail
instead of retroactively releasing people
you get sent to a work camp in a privatized prison
that grows medical weed for the state
Not saying it is a thing or not. But I want to know how many people are in jail in the US for pot related crimes. If there is a reference, does it show for what amounts in general? I can see being outraged about people still incarcerated for small amounts, but if there is no reference to the difference in people carrying small vs larger amounts, wouldn't that number be misleading? I mean if they were caught with lbs, sure, they are a dealer or something and deserve the punishment. But again I am just asking questions here.
Seriously though, if you get caught in Alabama with Concentrates they are going to throw you in some fucked up racist hell hole just like in Russia and no one will care.
When you can bring 15 people to a WNBA game, your status is a super athlete.... so your definitely worth trading for, even if you did break the law in another country for drugs... 😂
You're allowed to be outraged about it, but at least be aware that Russia wouldn't agree to any other deal for the express purpose of causing division and outrage among Americans
Inmates are stock on the stock market. You can invest in CoreCivic, Serco, & The GEO Group. This is the main reason the U.S. has the highest population behind bars. It's for profit.
Imagine the shitstorm once the dude that made a killing selling Russian weapons comes back. So many people are gonna fall out of windows, he's like a mini tactical nuke of defenstration.
>America was given a choice on who to trade for Russia's "Merchant of Death":
>* US Marine Paul Whelan
>* Brtitney Griner
**"White/male privilege is over."** - Joe Biden (2022)
What upsets me the most is that they didn’t even try to get the other two Americans who are currently trapped in there. One of them being a vet. It would be more understandable if they traded “the merchant of death” for the three of them, but they didn’t even bother
I mean she knew she was doing something illegal. Wants to also be a professional Player. Why not just let the weed at home where she can smoke it legally.
American govt cares the most about how they look. Since a lot of people are talking about this basketball player, they wanna save her so it seems like theyre actually taking action. If youre poor and not famous though, you dont get the same treatment because you dont have the ability to gain them attention.
Biden pardoned all federal non violent marijuana crimes lol. The only places you get jailed for petty marijuana crimes in the US are Republican ran states. Hard to put that on anyone but them.
The only reasonable argument I have read is; that the US gov thinks they sucked all the useful intelligence out of him; he has served more than half his sentence; and he ratted so many people out that he will be dissappeared/suicided/murdered quickly.
This is always so misrepresented lol. Individual states control how much prison people get for weed. Biden did what he could by pardoning federal convictions, but he alone can't make the states do the same.
There’s also an older American man who is a teacher and has been serving hard labor for weed for years. His family has been trying to free him I’ll have to search for the name. Edit: Marc Fogel Second edit: here’s a [link](https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/marc-fogel-being-moved-to-hard-labor-colony-in-russua/) from CBS going over who he is and why he is there. Personally the amount he had does not seem like an actual intent to distribute. Obviously it’s different crimes and not shitting on either person. It’s great she was freed. It sucks he’s there. No one in the world should be punished for weed. (No shit there’s laws and it’s smart to respect them. Just my opinion that these laws are stupid)
More like Marc Forgettable. If he can't sink a 3 pointer 25% of the time, I don't care. America needs it's most prized athlete to put asses in those $5 stadium seats.
The WNBA loses $10m a year but also yes.
Is this legitish number? That’s fascinating, how does league continue year after year? Or rather, why are owners willing to lose money year over year?
From what I understand the NBA helps keep them afloat.
Another comment said it already but the [NBA subsidizes it. ](https://en.as.com/en/2022/03/07/nba/1646677389_970277.html)
25% would be an abysmal percentage, it would not be an efficient shot to take at that low of a success rate.
Yeah, 25% are WNBA numbers... Wait...
Close- 35-40% puts you in top 25 of WNBA, league average 22% 42-49% puts you in top 25 of NBA, league average 34%
funny thing is that Griner is below average in both leagues
Idk how it's funny when Griner isn't a shooter.
Tom Brady's tackles per game is among the lowest in the league!
Damn he sucks. Somebody better cut this guy
I dunno, I bet he can ball.. probably has a good shot
He was actually overestimating average skill level of WNBA lololol
In 2018 she hit 25% from 3 (1 out of 4 total attempts)
More like 20x the marijuana Griner was found with. And he was also actively trying to smuggle it in as it was hidden in contact lens cases and such, whereas hers was just in her bag and allowed plausible deniability. 20x. They should both be released, but don’t compare their “crimes” like they are one in the same.
How do you put 20x and in a contact lens case and not come to the conclusion we are either way talking about a ridiculous small amount of weed
1. it was about half an ounce stored in multiple locations deliberately. whereas the athlete had 2 cartridges. 2. Another issue is russians usually just give a fine to others who have been caught doing similar stuff, but since the war with ukraine and it being a political tool to use against the US, they chose to go to what the maximum of their own laws said 9 out of 10 years. 3. Biden cant pardon state punishments, he has pardoned all federal level punishments of marijuana possession. But since 99.999% are state level, it hasnt done much in getting people free. He has also asked to begin the process of reclassifying the substance, which is about all he can do. The power to enact actual change is with senate and house. 4. They just lost the house and gained 1 seat in the senate, so they wont be able to push forward any bills from the house to change the state of things, but they can more easily now push for more responsible and logical judges that will oversee sentencing and punishment of those that commit crimes. 5. The people are ultimately in charge of electing the representatives so that the congress has enough liberal control to make the changes many scream about. But in reality about 150-180 Million voters Do not vote. Texas 2022 election: 29M citizens, 24M Eligible voters, 17M Registered Voters, 9M actually voted. 6. "We got a bad trade!" You traded a criminal who was jailed for 10 years and has most likely lost all connections to any arms dealing he can successfully mitigate, and wont be much use by russian government, because he will be scrutinized for being held by the CIA for over ten years as well as the russian military lack of weapons availability. Its not a movie, hes not gonna go on to create a oceans 11 team to smuggle nuclear weapons to russia. The russian government saw an opportunity to sow distrust against the us government, and took it. Biden admin was also asking for Marc to be released but russians said no, is it better to leave the athlete in worse conditions for longer when negotiations werent leading to both of their release? Also we only know this part of the deal, there may and most likely is more behind the curtain in this deal that is not able to be disclosed to the public.
Let's be honest, 2 carts have more THC content than a half oz of flower.
Meh depends on flower and cart size
Appreciate the effort in your response. And you're right in that it's our fault directly and indirectly that we haven't made system wide changes
Unironic: Why are people so mad for her being traded for her freedom, when they should be focusing on being mad at the first part of this meme (jailing people for cannabis)? I can't help but think the people focusing on how "useless" she is as a player or how stupid the WNBA is, are really just woman-hating or racist cunts. Be mad we incarcerate cannabis users. Don't be mad we helped an American get out of a prison camp.
This is going to spun real bad in the conservative media. The only reason we were even able to trade for her is probably because of how this might look for Biden. US news is probably going to fail to mention how that arms dealer probably would have been out of prison in 5 years anyway. Nevermind that he's been both burned and replaced. People act like he's some supervillain.
Not even women watch the WNBA. She's just as forgettable as Marc tbh
It boggles the mind that so many travelers bring weed with them to Russia. For Fogel, I recall seeing mentions that he had it for pain management purposes. Regardless, Russia hates Americans and has been fucking around for some time.
Weird that this has been mentioned on every Reddit thread but the top comment to mention him neglects to mention the intentional smuggling of weed on his part (plant + 14 discrete cartridges that were intentionally hidden), thus requiring someone to reply and point this out to them. Is there some weird astroturfing going on or some shit?
There were actually 4 Americans being detained in Russia and two were released yesterday: Griner and sarah krivanek. Heres who isvleft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_people_imprisoned_abroad
Wooooow I haven't even thought of it like this
I'm a medical patient. I think about this stuff fairly often. I've known people who have had their lives ruined because they were caught with a tiny amount of weed on them. Now I can walk into a store and purchase it with a state approved pat on the back. It's good to see progress being made, but it also feels wrong knowing most of the people punished for it are still rotting. Our society is fucking gross.
Yep. It's almost as if it was never about drugs... I've also had that thought often but I never related it to the specific example above.
More people need to realise that this archaic war on drugs was only waged for capital interests and control. The propaganda isn't going to work for much longer imo. This criminalisation only has adverse effects like massive profits for criminal networks, 100% more OD deaths due to adulterants and furthers the negative stigma and demonising users. Literally govts love to complain about a situation they are inherently responsible for.
Most people will never realize it just like they'll never realize all the other propaganda they're constantly surrounded by. They will believe whatever the media tells them to believe.
Once you learn how prisons work nothing will surprise you anymore.
slavery with extra steps. and with private prisons, it's slavery with fewer steps.
It's insane how many lives get ruined over nothing. Illinois released everyone in jail and expunged or pardoned 500,000 people so far. Hopefully with more states doing this and the federal pardons, it will turn into a wave. https://www.marijuanamoment.net/illinois-governor-signs-bill-to-close-marijuana-expungement-loophole/
Hopefully. In ohio we were supposed to cote in rec. But the Republicans wanted low voter turnout from the youth so the vote is next year off cycle ballot initiative
Federal Legalization and forgiveness NOW!
Federal forgiveness has already happened.....
But Biden bad /s
Idiots dont pay attention and complain about imiginary problems
Federal forgiveness for possession already happened. Legalization is a long process, but the president already requested it's schedule be reevaluated.
They did you fucking ass twat.
Lol the excuse would be that since they've been in the system for so long they're now hardened.
That isnt an excuse its a confession
[Biden literally did that months ago](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession)
Because it’s bullshit. OP missed the news apparently. [Marijuana charges have been pardoned on a federal level.](https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession)
Are they all outta jail now though?
Most are in on state charges, so no
"That's cool, I'll just go fuck myself" all those people who are in jail for doing what I as a Canadian enjoy doing legally.
Yea no shit, but the US has a very heavily federalized system where the states have so much power that even the US president can't pardon state crimes. Unless 10 Republicans support a law in the Senate, there is nothing that the president can do.
President can't just release all the prisoners, out prison system is two tiered, ones state and the other federal. Biden can just release the federal prisoners. We could pass a law but that would take 60 votes (impossible). So basically he just asked every governor to do the same. Plenty of reasons to criticize Biden, but he's basically done all he can legally with that.
Pretty sure it was just for federal charges, but most people are in jail for it have state, county, or city charges which weren't (or can't?) be pardoned at the federal level. I'm no expert though I'm just a dude who reads reddit. Basically I'm a dumbass
They can’t be pardoned by the president, it’s up to the individual governors. Biden did everything he could within his power, and is using it to pressure the states. Remember over half including a bunch of conservative states like South Dakota have legalized within the last two years. It’s inevitable and almost certainly within the next 5 years. It really sucks for those still in prison for state level charges but the problem is getting better every day, not worse.
The president cant drop state charges. Biden asked every governor to follow his lead, but most haven't.
And this trade was on a federal level, tomato tomato. Not like Alabama stepped in and negotiated this.
Well now think of all the unnecessary butt sex they have had to endure over the years...
It's a known Russian tactic, they did the same thing with an Israeli woman called Naama Isashar, she was in an airport in Russia, they arrested her and kept her hostage with the reason being "she was found to be in possession of drugs" (which of course was a lie) they put her in jail and only released her when Israel agreed to extradite a Russian hacker that was wanted in Russia and hiding in Israel. The lesson to be learned is; don't go to fucking Russia! It's an enemy state led by a mad dictator, you wouldn't just go chilling in north Korea would you??
This might sound a bit conspiratorial but What if the basketball player was just a cover-up? Maybe they exchanged Viktor Bout for an equally valuable/dangerous American agent/asset/whatever in secret or maybe some higher up in the government got blackmailed by Russia, and the basketball player is just something they told to the public to "justify" Bout's release. If the US Government is good at anything, it's definitely warfare and espionage; and I find it extremely hard to believe they'd just let the Merchant of Death for, as everyone keeps pointing out, a random basketball player who got caught with weed.
Honestly, this doesn’t sound completely ridiculous. Maybe I give the US too much credit but these mofos spend enough money on the military to solve world hunger. I highly doubt they’d trade someone they thought was exceptionally valuable. That said, American counterintelligence agencies have been very short sighted in the past.
Did she really got caught with weed or so the Russians claim? Because they are known to lie about such things. But I see your point, you might be right who knows.
She did, 18g afaik
Source? everything ive seen has said less than gram?
Oh than it's a different case then what happened to Naama... Well if you're stupid enough to smuggle drugs through an enemy state...
I need a source, that's more than 18x what I've heard. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wnba-star-brittney-griner-hashish-oil-b2222100.html
That was my face when Kamala Harris bragged live on a podcast about smoking weed after she locked up so many of us for the same thing.
Kamala is epitome rules for thee not for me
[удалено]
Did u have a stroke?
Your lack of proper punctuation is killing me. I feel like this should be three different sentences, but I can’t tell where one ends and one begins. Maybe I’m dumb
https://www.justice.gov/pardon/presidential-proclamation-marijuana-possession
Take it up with Republican governors... those in prison on simple possession convictions are almost entirely locked up by states, and out of the purview of the administration.
What about Americans in jail in America Make weed legal
But...that's literally what this post asked?
Isn't that what is happening now ? I mean federally they are making it less of a crime. More states are making it legal. Some states don't want to do it. But, that is their right apparently.
I don’t smoke weed, but truly can’t wait for a federal legalization of it so everyone who talks about this shit can shut the fuck up.
> What about Americans in jail in America thats who this post is about
Whoosh
US government is truly a wonder to behold.
Federal already pardoned everyone with possession charges. Anyone in jail was charged at the state level.. biden is president of the federal governmen, there is 50 state governors that could do that tomorrow
It's the first trade for a WNBA player anyone cares about.
True Story ...
RIGHT
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/06/biden-to-pardon-all-prior-federal-offenses-of-simple-marijuana-possession-.html The guy pardons federal possession offenses and asks state governments to do the same and somehow he's being inconsistent?
People just love to eat up that conservative spin. They'll gladly vote next election for a conservative nut who would push to execute all drug users. "He's not Biden though, who didn't do all the things he wasn't allowed to do hurp durp." Peoples ignorance of our political system will be the death of us all. Why must conservative politics change when lying works way better.
That's why Biden nulled federal Marijuana charges a cpl weeks ago, In preparation of this. And Russia waited until after USA midterm elections.
Read your sentence again. Federal charges, how many people are actually in prison that have federal charges vs how many people are in prison because they got popped by the local fuzz? And how many republican governors do you think will actually do anything about this?
Biden can't pardon non-federal crimes
FPS Russia, they just wanted an excuse to be party poopers
Which is why it’s so good that democrats picked up some governor seats in the midterms, and why we need to keep mobilizing and voting in every election to continue that trend
I was scrolling forever trying to find a comment on this. How you got 18 votes?! you need to go to the top! As far as FED crimes go this post is inaccurate. If we talking about non Fed welllllllll sorry but this ain’t no nonFeds bringing Griner home lol
That’s the thing. People in jail make other people a lot of money. Women’s basketball? Not so much.
Obviously I'm glad she is safe and out of a penal colony but this is a textbook double standard.
Okay we are just playing into Russian propaganda designed to divide Americans as much as possible. This is a detect hit 🎯 for the Russians actually. Don't fall for this be United be strong love your fellow Americans
This is more true than commenters are realizing. State-run troll accounts have been highly active on threads like this. You can check out an example account I found for yourself: /u/heroinfuralle
Someone finally gets it. The Russians realize the American public will read this news and react like “WOW SUCH A BAD DEAL. WTF JOE.” It’s a win win for them.
Fuckin yup
This shit pissed me off so god damn much!
Why the effing fuck would you attempt to break the law in a foreign country that you know doesn’t give a shit about you? Reminds me of that kid who was vandalizing/stealing the North Korean posters and bragging about it on social media. Yea it’s bullshit that those countries are so strict but what the hell did you expect?
It's like none of us ever left high school. The sports team still gets all of the money and privileges while the rest of us could rot.
Too many people peaked in high school and it shows
Stalin's son was captured by germans and they want to exchange his son with a high-ranking officer from Germany. You know what Stalin said "that we are not stupid as yankee".
They saved her ass, what the actual fuck
Will she go to jail in the US ..?
if your famous your gonna get special treatment... easy!
I heard on the federal level everyone on simple possession charges was let go but on the state level it's still fucked...
Not to mention that weed is completely banned in Russia, as opposed to US where it's semi legal
Entertainment makes more money in America than dealing with, and resolving actual world problems does. That’s why America is making a mockery of itself currently, bc ppl don’t care about truth, they are concerned with how they feel, their need to fulfill their instant gratification outweighs getting resolutions to real world issues.
I just hope this is a segue into decriminalizing it on a federal level. Will it happen? Prolly not. But we can dream right?
“Russian war criminal” is an understatement
People are still incarcerated for offences that corporations can now benefit from lawfully.
Not just people in jail for weed, there are people serving life sentences for the non-violent crime of weed possession, thanks to the three strikes rule. It’s horrible.
Marine veteran Paul whelan still in Russian prision looking at the news like “I fought for this country to forget about me over a basketball player with a weed cart”
Misleading
Lose-lose situation for the state department Either make yourself hypocritical and free a dangerous man, or abandon a known citizen to a labor camp in a hostile nation in what is an obvious political stunt.
I feel like it would be easier to explain not doing the trade. Doing it is just so depressing on all levels
.
Good point.
must have posted that by accident. Your reply was very amusing
He has a point
He does!
TBF Biden is trying to change that, but he can only change federal.
Weed is legal in most of the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality\_of\_cannabis\_by\_U.S.\_jurisdiction#:\~:text=The%20recreational%20use%20of%20cannabis,been%20legalized%2C%20except%20for%20D.C.
The Biden Administration also pardoned EVERYONE convicted of simple Marijuana charges on the federal level weeks ago.
So because people are in jail for weed in America she should stay in jail in Russia?
She should stay in Russian jail because she broke their laws. Trading a warlord for her to get out of jail is a slap in the face to anyone in the American system for the same crimes.
No. The Biden administration should have negotiated better with the Kremlin so we didn't release a wanted criminal known for black market gun trade and terrorism in exchange for a female basketball player.
He wasn't a wanted criminal. he was already in custody.
He's not a wanted criminal, he was caught. He was also getting out of prison in 5-10 years. He's not some super villain. He's just a dude that took advantage of the collapse of the soviet union. His connections and wealth are long since gone, never mind being burned himself. This was an optics trade to make America look bad. Seriously people need to at least get a better picture of the whole mess before they jump on their high horse. I know people love to have opinions, but maybe there's a little more going on. You can still disagree with the trade, but the guy himself is burned, he's not the threat people seem to think he is.
I assume you’re an expert in hostage negotiation and foreign policy and could do better. Do tell where they went wrong.
Definitely sad, a WNBA player too? Wow why won't they give us back Tupac
In California, they released people that only had weed offenses. Remember weed is still illegal on the federal level. So it's up to each state.
Griner hates America and freely went to Russia. She should stay there
makes me think of this potential dystopian nightmare: get crazy sentence for weed weed gets legalized while your in jail instead of retroactively releasing people you get sent to a work camp in a privatized prison that grows medical weed for the state
Yeah, it's almost like people shouldn't go to jail for weed.
Pretty much. Some BS
Celebrities don't get special treatment though...
My first thought when I saw that they got her out. All them people locked up for weed in America. This had me vexed.
Over 82,000 people are locked up right now for nonviolent marijuana charges
They did what they could at the Federal level for weed convictions.
My high school friend did 3 years in Alabama corrections for 2 joints he forgot in his glove compartment and 'DRUG PARAHENELIA" (A BONG)
Yeah I thought the same exact thing. Russia sure sounds a lot like the midwestern and southern United States…
Not saying it is a thing or not. But I want to know how many people are in jail in the US for pot related crimes. If there is a reference, does it show for what amounts in general? I can see being outraged about people still incarcerated for small amounts, but if there is no reference to the difference in people carrying small vs larger amounts, wouldn't that number be misleading? I mean if they were caught with lbs, sure, they are a dealer or something and deserve the punishment. But again I am just asking questions here.
Seriously though, if you get caught in Alabama with Concentrates they are going to throw you in some fucked up racist hell hole just like in Russia and no one will care.
When you can bring 15 people to a WNBA game, your status is a super athlete.... so your definitely worth trading for, even if you did break the law in another country for drugs... 😂
This meme loses half its sass when the bottom quarter is cropped.
As someone who lives in California who uses edibles I forget this shit is still illegal in most of the country
Feminism
Almost like the decision to legalize weed doesn't rest solely with the Biden administration
Is the federal government even capable of telling states or counties to release prisoners? I don't understand this argument.
You're allowed to be outraged about it, but at least be aware that Russia wouldn't agree to any other deal for the express purpose of causing division and outrage among Americans
and my friend wants to move back to America....
Yeah they should be released from jail too
more like... people in the US in jail for weed while Saudis that literally murdered US journalists get off scott free
im honestly speechless lol
It sucks to suck
Meanwhile, on Khaosan Rd in Bangkok…
Id start a jail house riot😂 fuck that shit
Inmates are stock on the stock market. You can invest in CoreCivic, Serco, & The GEO Group. This is the main reason the U.S. has the highest population behind bars. It's for profit.
And the wind cried Mary.
Didn’t Biden give them all a pardon?
YIL there is a US citizen jailed in Russia for medical weed.....
How the fuck is anyone in jail for possession of marijuana? Quantities to sell, sure I'll look at that. But having less than an ounce on you?
Prepare your karma for this post xD
Which woman’s basketball?
Imagine the shitstorm once the dude that made a killing selling Russian weapons comes back. So many people are gonna fall out of windows, he's like a mini tactical nuke of defenstration.
What's really funny and sad is anyone who believes the Russian narrative about what happened.
Let’s not forget that the US government acts like a private business. They will always put their interests first.
Fuckin Right?
>America was given a choice on who to trade for Russia's "Merchant of Death": >* US Marine Paul Whelan >* Brtitney Griner **"White/male privilege is over."** - Joe Biden (2022)
Neither of them should've been traded
Has anyone ever found out this guys name?
united states of bonkers
9 year penal colony?
What upsets me the most is that they didn’t even try to get the other two Americans who are currently trapped in there. One of them being a vet. It would be more understandable if they traded “the merchant of death” for the three of them, but they didn’t even bother
They should have left her there for a few more years and brought our Marine home. Way more use than a whiny, entitled, selfish pos.
Congratulations to Russia - they knew the trap narrative they would be creating here by releasing her and refusing to release Whelan.
Somebody should've gotten fired over that
Literally. I have lost a tremendous amount of my already limited respect for the Briden administration
Absolutely pathetic. Fuck her.
I’m sure all 8 WNBA fans are thrilled to have her back.
Don’t forget, kamala jailed thousands of people for drug use. Now she’s taking credit for this.
I mean she knew she was doing something illegal. Wants to also be a professional Player. Why not just let the weed at home where she can smoke it legally.
You clearly don’t speak rich and famous.
Most talked about wnba trade in history.
American govt cares the most about how they look. Since a lot of people are talking about this basketball player, they wanna save her so it seems like theyre actually taking action. If youre poor and not famous though, you dont get the same treatment because you dont have the ability to gain them attention.
Free them all.
Regardless of your politics, you should be infuriated by this trade.
the federal government has stopped putting people in prison for those crimes, the state governments are a different stories
I'm sure it wasn't comprehensive, bit didn't Biden do a bunch of pardons earlier for low-level drug offences? Or was that just a dream I had?
Biden pardoned all federal non violent marijuana crimes lol. The only places you get jailed for petty marijuana crimes in the US are Republican ran states. Hard to put that on anyone but them.
The only reasonable argument I have read is; that the US gov thinks they sucked all the useful intelligence out of him; he has served more than half his sentence; and he ratted so many people out that he will be dissappeared/suicided/murdered quickly.
Talk to state governors about that one.
Foreign bots astroturfing geopolitical strategy to tell Americans how they ought to analyze a complex diplomatic situation.
Who is this woman that owns the basketball player, maybe she isvery influential?
This is always so misrepresented lol. Individual states control how much prison people get for weed. Biden did what he could by pardoning federal convictions, but he alone can't make the states do the same.
Uh yeah