POOR lady, no one deserves even a single day of russian prison for weed. jailing people for tools of peace 
I wouldn’t a second time! 
the first time i was young and dumb and my bag got lost by the airline for 4 days and i spent those days on a caribbean beach freaked out that i was going to be busted any minute. that was not a fun first 4 days of my vacation. 
i mean who BRINGS weed to the caribbean? smdh.
Uh…
Tourists who don’t want to take the chance of trying to buy locally, only to end up getting robbed or worse?
(I lived on a tropical island for a few years; depending on the island and the neighborhood, it can be risky.)
I bet.
that’s a good point. easy way to get targeted for a scam.
fortunately i met a kind rastafarian gentleman who also ran a health food store who hooked me up with food and “supplies”. i was lucky my story turned out so well.
Except for the first four days of panic and paranoia, of course.
After that, I’m sure you needed a toke…
In California, where it’s decriminalized, I would expect trouble for anyone carrying it on purely domestic, intra-state flights, just because of federal issues when you interact with the TSA. (Though apparently people are still caught trying to pack their carry-on luggage with 50 pounds of pot when leaving the state.)
Although there’s still the possibility of ending up in a country one isn’t intending to visit, because of connecting flights (like in this case). Even with careful planning, flights end up in unexpected countries. (It’s happened to me, even on trips that should have been straightforward and predictable*. Luckily not yet to any country I deliberately try to avoid…)
I’m just imagine how perverse it would be to face drugs charges for substances one wasn’t wittingly carrying, in a country one didn’t intend to visit…
*'90s film voiceover: “You may be wondering how I ended up in Greenland. Well, it’s a funny story…”
Don’t take a connecting flight through USA either:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maher_Arar#Arar’s_rendition
Maybe don’t fly with drugs dummy! Assuming she was not set up.
We have an abundance of tools to let you procure dope at your destination. All options involve risk. She lost this gamble, and it seems a poor gamble at that.
The sentence is weirdly excessive is the story.
It would be excessive for possession. It is not excessive (in the Russian legal system) for smuggling. So perhaps the story is the charge.
The lesson is if you have any illicit items don’t take them through the most-surveilled public environments of international travel at any time.
It’s not just dope, even over the counter drugs, or prescription drugs can be a real problem in some places, especially any containing Codeine! Even carrying some Ibuprofen in a small container on my keyring got me extended scrutiny by security going into a gig!
I have osteoarthritis in one knee, so I carry tablets for it, formerly Zapain, a codeine/paracetamol drug, now I use Naproxen, a high-strength NSAI like Ibuprofen, which is fine here in the U.K., but if I ever have to travel outside of the U.K. I’ll make absolutely certain I carry a prescription and full packaging to avoid issues with border control.
One can never be too careful.
Prague doesn’t care because possession of small amounts was decriminalised years ago.
Laws can get weird indeed. The Illinois legislature voted to legalize, but it doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1. In the meantime, the constabulary is cheerfully busting people for weed, and will no doubt keep right on doing so until 23:59:59.9 on Dec. 31.
According to the internet, this is what 9 grams look like.
Going to any international flight with such is stupid.
And doing it to Russia or China would be extremely stupid.
Not to blame the victim too much, but midnight express should be required viewing to youngster traveling abroad.
It is a really shit situation, but the officers are shooting themselves in the foot.
It will lead to more work to do after it is legal and they have to handle more release cases.
It also increases the chance that something go wrong and the state will have to compensate those kept incarcerated unlawfully.
It is a shame there is not a good accountability for those who are stupid.
Thanks. This was not a few years ago. Also they were warning more about further east - city itself ignored but you risked getting That Cop
(Like the one in Seattle who kept writing tickets after decrim iirc)
It’s illegal to carry marjuana over the US/Canada border between Washington State and British Columbia, and marijuana is legal in both of those jurisdictions. It’s just not a good idea to take drugs over an international border. They don’t have to be authoritarian gangst…
looks at Trump
looks at Trudeau
Oh.
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