Since February, WNBA star Brittney Griner has been plastered over almost every major news source with updates, opinions, and background information. She entered Russia in February of 2022 to play basketball with the U.S.A women’s national team. Upon entering, she was caught with a weed “cart” of 2 cartridges. She defended her possession of the drugs with the fact that she was prescribed them for medicinal purposes. Since she still violated Russian law, she has been in Russian detainment and custody for the past 9 months. 

There is debate of whether or not she should be in jail or if swapping her out for a U.S.-detained Russian arms dealer is ethical or logical. On December 8, 2022, she was finally released and fully sent back to the United States. 

Still, the debate on the controversy of this entire detainment and release process rages on. In my opinion, regardless of how legal marijuana may be in the United States, going to a different country with very open opposition to any form of the drug has its consequences. 

I’ve heard about how strict and isolating the Russian prison system can be, so of course, Griner does not deserve to be placed in such harsh confinements. But, the circumstances of her release were not the most desirable. The prisoner she was switched out with is Viktor Bout, who served as a Soviet and global military arms smuggler. The nature of his sales and the people he sold to caused him to be dubbed the “merchant of death.” His official arrest in 2012 was due to his selling of weapons to terrorist organizations that were said to be plotting an attack on the United States. 

The third party in this situation is Paul Whelan, a Marine veteran who was accused of spying in Moscow almost four years ago and has been in Russian detainment, awaiting his release. Whelan said just a few days ago in a CNN interview that his bags are packed and all he needs is a flight. The article further quoted Whelan saying, “Whelan said he hopes that Biden and his administration ‘would do everything they could to get me home, regardless of the price they might have to pay at this point.’” Whelan, upon being caught by Russia, was said to be in town for a wedding, but authorities that found him in a high-end Moscow hotel were not buying his story. Anjani Bodar (11) says, “I’ve been seeing these articles plastered over the news so often since Brittney was arrested and I only learned all of this information about Bout and Whelan a few days ago. It’s crazy.”