This week in review Brittney Griner has plead guilty to bringing marijuana vape cartridges into Russia. The White House has doubled down on its claims that Griner is being held wrongfully even after the guilty plea. Texas NFL star David Moore was arrested for felony possession of marijuana and weapons charges on July 4th. The VA released a letter stating that veterans are eligible to get a COE for a home loan while working in a state legal marijuana industry. Audio player version included below for those on the go.
This week WNBA star Brittany Griner plead guilty to illegally bringing marijuana vape cartridges into Russia. Griner says the action was not done intentionally though.
“I’d like to plead guilty, your honor. But there was no intent. I didn’t want to break the law,” Griner said in court, according to Reuters
Russian administrators have been casting aside attempts by the US to claim the arrest was improper or political. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev has said the evidence is indisputable.
“Attempts to present the case as if the American was detained illegally do not hold up,” Zaitsev said, according to the AP. “The law has been violated, and arguments about the innocent nature of Griner’s addiction, which, by the way, is punishable in some U.S. states, are inappropriate in this case.”
But while the U.S. State Department has said that Brittney Griner is “wrongfully detained”—a designation that typically escalates diplomatic efforts to negotiate a release—officials haven’t specifically said why they’ve characterized the case that way. The department has maintained this stance since early May 2022.
Learn how to become a medical cannabis patient in Texas
Learn how to become a medical cannabis patient in Texas
The Whitehouse and Biden administration is affirming that American basketball star Brittney Griner has been wrongfully detained over cannabis in Russia. This has come under criticism in the US along with Russia given that current domestic US policy is that cannabis is illegal. Texas activists have called out the hypocrisy in noting that the same vape cartridges Griner is being charged over, are automatically a state jail felony charge in the state.
At a briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly affirmed that the U.S. stance has not changed.
“We believe that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained Brittney Griner, and she is in intolerable circumstances right now,” Jean-Pierre said. “We are going to do everything that we can—the president has this top of mind—to make sure that we get Brittney home safely.”
It’s possible that officials aren’t basing the designation of wrongfully detained on the question of innocence of guilt, per se. US Officials could believe Griner is being held for political reasons considering the US turmoil with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or as leverage to negotiate a prisoner swap.
Advocates have noted that it may set a better example if the call for a citizen abroad is to be released for possession charges, that America change the designation of the plants criminal status here in the US as well.
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In related news, NFL player David Moore was arrested in his hometown of Gainesville, Texas, this past Monday.
The player was found passed out in his vehicle in a Taco Bell drive-thru on July 4th. According to the Gainesville Police Dept, officers found Moore asleep in the driver’s seat of a 2018 Ford F250 at the local fast-food joint at around 11:18 PM on July 3. Police claimed that Moore smelled of marijuana.
An ensuing search, police say, revealed he had “a package of THC edible candies along with three pistols” in his car. Moore was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful carrying of weapons.
Any weapons carried while carrying a schedule 1 substance is considered an unlawful weapons carry. Given the history of advocates in this position in Texas, the state may drop the marijuana charge but the DEA or ATF may push for the weapons charge to stick. How this plays out may remain relevant with the Griner case and the hypocrisy claims.
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The VA has clarified that veterans working in the marijuana industry in a legal state can still be certified for a VA backed home loan. The VA did clarify however that working with lenders while in the industry may still be difficult and keep veterans from getting loans.
The VA stated the following in a publicly released letter this past week:
“A Veteran who receives income from state-legalized marijuana activity is not prohibited from obtaining a Certificate of Eligibility (COE), which is a certificate that confirms the Veteran is eligible to apply for a VA-guaranteed loan and shows the amount of home loan guaranty entitlement available, if any, to the Veteran. Income from employment in industries that are not prohibited at the federal level, such as the legal hemp industry, is not problematic for underwriting purposes. For example, income derived from the retail sale of legally compliant hemp fabric would not raise the same underwriting difficulties that income derived from the retail sale of marijuana would. A lender could therefore treat such hemp-related income like any other source of legal income when determining a Veteran’s ability to meet loan payments.”
That is it for this week in cannabis news review here at the Texas Cannabis Collective. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and search for Lonestar Collective Podcast in your search engine to get updates about our show and weekly news. Have a safe week Texas and stay hydrated to beat the heat.