Elon Musk suggested that the United States should free people imprisoned for marijuana in its own country in response to reports that the Biden administration is working on a deal to get WNBA star Brittney Griner out of Russia.
“Maybe free some people in jail for weed here too?” Musk wrote in response to a meme reading, “People in the US in jail for weed while the government trades a Russian war criminal to free a woman’s basketball player in jail for weed.”
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The tweet comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Wednesday that the US made a “substantial proposal” to Russia to bring the two-time Olympic gold medalist home.
Sunday isn’t the first time that Musk has called for the US to release prisoners sentenced for marijuana-related crimes. Back in 2020, the Tesla CEO tweeted, “Selling weed literally went from major felony to essential business (open during pandemic) in much of America and yet many are still in prison. Doesn’t make sense, isn’t right.”
According to CNN, the US has offered notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout in a prisoner swap for Griner and Paul Whelan. Griner has been held in Russia since February after being caught carrying the drug at a Moscow airport, where it is illegal. She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Check out Musk’s tweet below.
[Via]