Elon Musk questions US laws on drugs as President Biden tries to free Brittney Griner

The Tesla CEO has waded into Brittney Griner’s imprisonment in Russia questioning the actions of US President Joe Biden.

Elon Musk questioned US President Joe Biden’s ongoing effort to release basketball star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison while thousands are locked up in America for the same offence.

Griner was last week sentenced to nine years in Russia for cannabis possession, reported the New York Post.

“If the president is working so hard to free someone who is in jail in Russia for some weed, shouldn’t we free people in America?” the Tesla CEO asked on an episode of the Full Send podcast this week.

“There are people in jail in America for the same stuff. Shouldn’t we free them too? My opinion is that people should not be in jail for nonviolent drug crimes.”

Elon Musk has said the US shouldn’t imprison people on cannabis charge as well as wanting Brittany Greiner freed. (Photo by Patrick Pleul – Pool/Getty Images)

Mr Biden said on Friday his administration was “working hard” and was “hopeful” to get Griner back, in negotiations with Russia. His administration has considered the possibility of swapping Griner for notorious arms dealer Viktor Grout — also known as the “Merchant of Death”.

Marijuana possession is still illegal at the federal level in the US, fully legalised for recreational use in 19 states and decriminalised in 18 others.

Griner pleaded guilty last month to possessing a small amount of cannabis oil when she was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport in February. She was convicted of cannabis possession and drug smuggling and in addition to her nine-year prison sentence was fined about US$16,200 (A$23,400).

US President Joe Biden has said his administration is working hard on freeing Griner. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP)

According to an American Civil Liberties Union report, there were nearly 700,000 marijuana-related arrests in 2018 in the US — the last year for which data is available. That accounts for 43.2 per cent of all drug arrests, significantly more arrests than any other drug — and more than all violent crime combined, the report found.

Mr Musk claimed not to be a regular marijuana user himself and said he thinks marijuana is “not that good for productivity”.

But the world’s richest human also recently said that he and employees at his space exploration company SpaceX were federally required to take drug tests for a whole year following a viral, pot-fuelled appearance by Mr Musk on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2018.

US WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner waits for the verdict in Khimki outside Moscow, on August 4, 2022. (Photo by EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA / POOL / AFP)

He said on Full Send that he needed to prove to the government that he wasn’t an addict after taking “one puff” during his interview with Rogan four years ago, shot in California, where marijuana was legal at the time.

“I did get a lot of backlash because it’s still federally illegal,” he said.

“SpaceX has federal government contracts, so our competitors were like ‘Why aren’t you doing anything? Look at him brazenly smoking weed on Joe Rogan’s podcast,’” Mr Musk said.

The bombshell puff sent Tesla stocks briefly spiralling, dropping as much as 9 per cent. The steep stock fall prompted Mr Musk to reassure investors that he was not an addict, he said.

This story was published in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Elon Musk questions US laws on drugs as President Biden tries to free Brittney Griner