No mention

[RotBaron]

So why no mention or attention for Fogel?

Marc Fogel, 61, was arrested in August 2021 when he tried to enter Russia with a small amount of medical marijuana that had been prescribed for chronic pain. A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Fogel had been teaching in Russia for a decade, capping a long career at international schools in countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Oman and Malaysia.

Mr. Fogel “is serving 14 years for possessing 17 grams, or just over half an ounce, of medical marijuana,” he said. “That is egregious, even under Russia’s current laws.” -WaPo

It’s curious to receive a “unlawfully detained” designation by your country when others like Fogel don’t, question is why. How are they different?

[Chris79]

Play stupid Russian games, win stupid Russian prizes. The only winning strategy is to not go to Russia.

[CptTrips]

Play stupid Russian games, win stupid Russian prizes. The only winning strategy is to not go to Russia.

That would be my advice.  With or without the ganja.

[guncrasher]

there's places where if you have no drugs on you but test positive you go to jail.

life isn't fair.


semp

[DmonSlyr]

The whole thing about Marijuana is just so freaking stupid. Go ahead and drink yourself to death though, perfectly okay I guess. But God forbid you smoke some grass. I can't figure it out. I'm wondering if it's just a cover they use when they arrest other country's state assets, then they can use them as pawns. So hard not to get political here, but you should know full well why it was only a 1 for 1 trade even though one guy is far more important than the other. They just wanted the cheap political points for the black community. After all, don't you understand just how important a WMBA star is these days, sheesh.

[RotBaron]

I just don’t understand why Griner and the former Marine get/got all the attention from our media and Fogel and numerous others detained/convicted in Russia and many other countries aren’t ever talked about.

Just my opinion, but I don’t feel a prisoner swap was/would be worth it for ANY American for a pos like Bout. Sorry if you disagree, but he’s responsible for 100’s of deaths/murders and now he’ll be using his skills on Ukrainians.

[RotBaron]

Sorry Dmonslyr, but just because it’s a drug you happen to believe is virtually harmless, doesn’t give US citizens (I’d say gov, but only state gov’s…) the right to impose that in other countries and on their people. Most of the world disagrees with your stance.

Also if we want our laws respected it goes without saying, Americans traveling abroad need to do the same.

My first trip deep into Mexico was on a High School trip to Mazatlan and our Spanish teacher made us watch Midnight Express, for good reason. He also explained to us ‘sex on the beach’ is a legal drink, however the act in Mexico is quite forbidden and (was?) illegal; even moderate PDA…

[RotBaron]

Dmnslyr, one last thought might be a new perspective:

Most of the time you smoke/edible, is to get a THC high, right? Not everyone does of course as they develop a tolerance and truly smoke for symptom control. However, in age group of 35+ most ppl don’t drink to get drunk.

I don’t know a single person that stuck to just cannabis and didn’t go on to try harder drugs.

I know dozens, that only drank alcohol and never tried any other mind altering substance.

Anecdotal, yes…

[Meatwad]

Because drug addicts gotta have their drugs, then play the victim when they get caught. Also, DONT GO TO RUSSIA

[DmonSlyr]

Sorry Dmonslyr, but just because it’s a drug you happen to believe is virtually harmless, doesn’t give US citizens (I’d say gov, but only state gov’s…) the right to impose that in other countries and on their people. Most of the world disagrees with your stance.

Also if we want our laws respected it goes without saying, Americans traveling abroad need to do the same.

My first trip deep into Mexico was on a High School trip to Mazatlan and our Spanish teacher made us watch Midnight Express, for good reason. He also explained to us ‘sex on the beach’ is a legal drink, however the act in Mexico is quite forbidden and (was?) illegal; even moderate PDA…

I understand "breaking other countries laws" is the reason, but 14 years over grass is highly unreasonable and very irrational.  6 months would be a more appropriate penalty, if that. Even still should be legal like alcohol. I don't believe these countries have done the research into it, and it's pretty much propaganda and lobbying by big pharma to keep it illegal. 14 years in prison will do more harm to the person than grass ever did.

I've seen far more people do stupid crap on liquor. My experience in university proved that liquor makes people far crazier and more promiscuous after a few too much. Your "care" meter drops considerably. The far majority of DUIs are from liquor/alcohol. Not a single person has ever overdosed on grass. Its not even addicting. You don't go around beating people up or trying to get into fights on grass. I've never seen it. Sitting around in a circle smoking with news friends is actually really fun and a great way to get to know people. It's far healthier than cigarettes and smells better too.

You can study while smoking grass, you cannot study on liquor. I've tried doing both and have done my own experiments with both. Hell, try playing AH on grass compared to liquor, it's much harder after drinking half a fifth than it is after smoking a blunt. I think the current conservative "understanding" about grass is extremely irrational. We would be far better off as a society with people smoking grass than choosing alcohol as their method to "escape" or feel better, what ever you want to call it. Prison doesn't do these people good. I've seen it myself when a old buddy of mine came out a damn gangster after 3 years in prison. He went back to prison a year later for being a drug mule for
the gang.

I do agree with your point though about why they aren't talking about this guy. It certainly is interesting. He certainly should be free and 14 years for a guy like that is incredibly BS. Unless he was actually a spy or something selling secrets and they are using it as cover, nevertheless he should be mentioned as well.

[Eagler]

Wasn't about cannibis it was about a vote gathering entitlement move...

It checked as many lefty boxes as possible..potato head doesn't even realize what he did...just look at the lost look on his blank face as he stumbles around..

What an inspiration lol

Eagler

[CptTrips]

Wasn't about cannibis it was about a vote gathering entitlement move...

It checked as many lefty boxes as possible..potato head doesn't even realize what he did...just look at the lost look on his blank face as he stumbles around..

What an inspiration lol

Eagler

Keep your politics to yourself.

[Maverick]

Complaining about another country's laws when you do not live there is an exercise in frustration and accomplishes nothing.

In griner's case this was far from her first trip to russia. She had to know damn well that what she had was illegal there. Instead, her hubris, fueled by the experience she enjoyed in the US, brought her to the prison system. I have zero sympathy for her or anyone else who violated their laws. One should research about laws where you are going. Some places cane you for tagging, some throw you off of a building for being gay or cut off your hands for stealing. Just because you get away with it in the US is not justification for thinking you will elsewhere.

Caveat emptor.

[Eagler]

Keep your politics to yourself.

When the thread is about  nothing else as there was no other real reason for such a lopsided trade, we should not respond?

Do you think it was a great trade? My lefty friends think it was some sort of genius when it was the exact opposite for numerous reasons

Eagler

[CptTrips]

Do you think it was a great trade?

What I think is that you should keep your political diarrhea to yourself, or they need to abandon the rules so that everyone else can respond in kind.

And yes, the OP was political trolling to begin with.  Big shock there.