A recent American prisoner who had been released by a Russian prison for marijuana possession, which he acquired as a legal medical cannabis patient from Pennsylvania was invited to be a guest of President Donald Trump at his speech on Tuesday night before the joint session Congress.
Marc Fogel—who was serving a 14-year sentence in Russian after being convicted of “drug smuggling” over possession of a half-ounce of cannabis and whose release was secured as part of a prisoner swap last month—will be in attendance at the president’s speech on Capitol Hill.
Trump and other congressional leaders were pleased to see Fogel back at the White House in the last month. However, the charges of marijuana possessing was not explicitly acknowledged, even though he could face prison under the federal laws domestically.
Trump has not yet confirmed if he will mention the reasons Fogel spent time in Russia. Neither the White House release that announced him or other guests who were invited by Melania Trump, the First Lady and President Trump do make any reference to marijuana.
https://t.co/RjHTjdoFZw
— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 4, 2025
Fogel was finally released two months later, after former president Joe Biden’s State Department had finally made the decision that he was “wrongfully held”. Fogel is a Pennsylvania medical marijuana patient, who has been using it to manage pain for the past 4 years.
The White House released a statement on Tuesday stating that Marc is an American History teacher, who has been held as a hostage for 14 years by the Russian Government and was wrongfully sent to a Russian Prison. “On the 12th of February, President Trump delivered on his promise that he’d bring Marc, Marc’s 95-year old mother home.”
Ahead of his designation as wrongfully detained, there were repeated calls for the diplomatic status change, including a letter sent to the Biden administration by over a dozen members of Congress in August that emphasized that Fogel’s access to marijuana was “necessary to subdue his pain.”
Following an historic, multinational prisoner swap last summer, where several Americans were released, the bicameral legislators sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken, expressing their “gravest of concerns” about the continued imprisonment of Fogel.
The lawmakers also noted that Fogel’s situation is comparable to that of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who also served time in a Russian prison over possession of cannabis oil that she also lawfully obtained as a medical marijuana patient in Arizona before being released as part of an earlier prisoner swap that the Biden administration negotiated.
Trump has confirmed that, in the meantime, he is appointing someone whose drug-related sentence he commutated to a “pardon Czar” role responsible for facilitating future clemency.
Alice Marie Johnson, who will be a pardon official in the White House’s office, shared on Twitter a message inviting others to watch the President’s address before Congress.
Join me to watch President Trump’s address tonight, at 9 pm E.T. On all major channels. It is the start of a new American Dream! @POTUS @realDonaldTrump #UnitedTogether pic.twitter.com/W79lQ64QJc
— Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) March 4, 2025
This is the beginning for the American Dream to be renewed! She spoke.
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Last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill with an accompanying report that demanded the Biden Administration explain why they had not intensified diplomatic efforts in order to obtain Fogel’s release.
While the section didn’t describe the specific details of Fogel’s case, the committee passage followed the Senate approving a resolution calling for his release, emphasizing that he was a lawful medical cannabis patient in Pennsylvania using state-legal products as an opioid alternative.
In the resolution it was stated that the 14 year sentence Fogel received for being convicted of “large scale drugs smuggling”, over the possession of one-half ounces of cannabis, is political motivated and disproportionate. This especially applies when considering the fact that Fogel had been using marijuana to treat medical conditions on a doctor’s advice.
The resolution was introduced in 2023 shortly after family of Fogel visited the White House to meet with high-level officials and also raise attention to his case with members of Congress.
Meanwhile, a separate coalition of more than 20 U.S. senators filed a different resolution last year condemning the arrests of American citizens in Russia, including Fogel.
Steve Daines and the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul also sent a letter to the secretary of state in 2023, imploring the administration to “immediately” escalate diplomatic efforts to secure Fogel’s return.
In 2022, more than two dozen members of Congress called on the State Department to step up diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Fogel, calling his incarceration over marijuana that he used to treat chronic pain “unconscionable.”
The White House under Biden said that year it was actively investigating Fogel’s case, and lawmakers have been keeping the pressure on to ensure it’s doing all that it can to secure his release.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) also led a letter with other senators that similarly asked the State Department to classify the citizen, an American teacher, as “wrongfully detained.” That came shortly after other bipartisan members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation again pleaded with the State Department to escalate Fogel’s case, drawing parallels between his and Griner’s cannabis-related convictions.
Russia, for its part, has taken a particularly strong stance against reforming cannabis policy at the international level through the United Nations. Canada was also castigated for legalizing cannabis nationwide.
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