Griner’s Lawyers Tell Russian Court She Was Prescribed Medical Cannabis

Basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, is escorted before a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow on July, 15, 2022. Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters

KHIMKI, Russia—Lawyers defending U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner told a Russian court on Friday she was prescribed medical cannabis in the United States for a chronic injury, a Reuters journalist at the courtroom reported.

Griner pled guilty to drugs charges which carry a prison sentence of up to ten years after she was detained at a Moscow airport in February carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil.