An American who was not too long ago launched from a Russian jail over marijuana possession he obtained as a lawful medical hashish affected person in Pennsylvania is amongst President Donald Trump’s invited friends at a speech earlier than a joint session Congress on Tuesday night.
Marc Fogel—who was serving a 14-year sentence in Russian after being convicted of “drug smuggling” over possession of a half-ounce of hashish and whose launch was secured as a part of a prisoner swap final month—will probably be in attendance on the president’s speech on Capitol Hill.
Trump and key congressional leaders welcomed Fogel’s return at the White House last month, although there was not express acknowledgment of the underlying expenses of marijuana possession, which might nonetheless earn him jail time below federal regulation domestically.
It is just not clear if Trump will talk about the explanation Fogel was incarcerated in Russia within the first place throughout his speech, and the White House press launch asserting him and different friends invited by the president and First Lady Melania Trump makes no point out of marijuana.
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 4, 2025
Fogel was launched about two months after the State Department below former President Joe Biden lastly designated him as a “wrongfully detained” particular person. As many lawmakers and supporters have identified over the previous 4 years, Fogel was a registered Pennsylvania medical hashish affected person who used it as an opioid various to deal with ache.
“Marc is an American history teacher who was held hostage by the Russian government and wrongfully sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison,” the White House said in a press launch on Tuesday. “On February 12th, President Trump fulfilled his promise to Malphine, Marc’s 95-year-old mother, that he would bring Marc home.”
Ahead of his designation as wrongfully detained, there have been repeated requires the diplomatic standing change, together with a letter despatched to the Biden administration by over a dozen members of Congress in August that emphasised that Fogel’s access to marijuana was “necessary to subdue his pain.”
Following an historic, multinational prisoner swap final summer time, the place a number of Americans have been launched, the bicameral legislators despatched a letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressing their “gravest of concerns” in regards to the continued imprisonment of Fogel.
The lawmakers additionally famous that Fogel’s state of affairs is akin to that of WNBA participant Brittney Griner, who additionally served time in a Russian jail over possession of hashish oil that she additionally lawfully obtained as a medical marijuana affected person in Arizona before being released as part of an earlier prisoner swap that the Biden administration negotiated.
Meanwhile, Trump not too long ago confirmed that he’s appointing an individual whose sentence for a drug-related conviction he commuted to a brand new position because the nation’s “pardon czar” liable for facilitating future clemency actions.
Alice Marie Johnson will function a chosen pardon official on the White House, and she or he shared a put up on Tuesday inviting folks to hitch her in watching the president’s congressional tackle.
Please be part of me in watching President Trump tackle Congress tonight at 9 PM E.T. on all main networks. This is the start of the renewal of the American Dream! @POTUS @realDonaldTrump #UnitedTogether pic.twitter.com/W79lQ64QJc
— Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) March 4, 2025
“This is the beginning of the renewal of the American Dream!” she stated.
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The Senate Appropriations Committee accredited a spending invoice final yr with an hooked up report demanding that the Biden administration explain why it has not escalated diplomatic efforts to secure the release Fogel.
While the part didn’t describe the particular particulars of Fogel’s case, the committee passage adopted the Senate approving a resolution calling for his release, emphasizing that he was a lawful medical hashish affected person in Pennsylvania utilizing state-legal merchandise as an opioid various.
The decision stated the 14-year sentence that Fogel acquired after being convicted of “large-scale drugs smuggling” over possession of a half-ounce of hashish is politically motivated and disproportionate, particularly when taking into consideration the truth that he was utilizing marijuana for medical functions in accordance with a health care provider’s advice.
The decision was launched in 2023 shortly after family of Fogel visited the White House to fulfill with high-level officers and likewise elevate consideration to his case with members of Congress.
Meanwhile, a separate coalition of greater than 20 U.S. senators filed a distinct decision final yr condemning the arrests of American citizens in Russia, including Fogel.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul additionally despatched a letter to the secretary of state in 2023, imploring the administration to “immediately” escalate diplomatic efforts to secure Fogel’s return.
In 2022, greater than two dozen members of Congress known as on the State Department to step up diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Fogel, calling his incarceration over marijuana that he used to deal with persistent ache “unconscionable.”
The White House below Biden stated that yr it was actively investigating Fogel’s case, and lawmakers have been conserving the strain on to make sure it’s doing all that it might to safe his launch.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) additionally led a letter with other senators that equally requested the State Department to categorise the citizen, an American instructor, as “wrongfully detained.” That got here shortly after different bipartisan members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation once more pleaded with the State Department to escalate Fogel’s case, drawing parallels between his and Griner’s cannabis-related convictions.
Russia, for its half, has taken a very robust stance against reforming cannabis policy at the international level by the United Nations. And it condemned Canada for legalizing marijuana nationwide.
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