Trump Invites Former Medical Marijuana Prisoner To Speech Before Joint Session Of Congress

An American who was recently released from a Russian prison over marijuana possession he obtained as a lawful medical cannabis patient in Pennsylvania is among President Donald Trump’s invited guests at a speech before a joint session Congress on Tuesday evening.

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 key congressional leaders welcomed Fogel’s return at the White House last month, though there was not explicit acknowledgment of the underlying charges of marijuana possession, which could still earn him prison time under federal law domestically.

It is not clear if Trump will discuss the reason Fogel was incarcerated in Russia in the first place during his speech, and the White House press release announcing him and other guests invited by the president and First Lady Melania Trump makes no mention of marijuana.

https://t.co/RjHTjdoFZw

— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) March 4, 2025

Fogel was released about two months after the State Department under former President Joe Biden finally designated him as a “wrongfully detained” individual. As many lawmakers and supporters have pointed out over the past four years, Fogel was a registered Pennsylvania medical cannabis patient who used it as an opioid alternative to treat pain.

“Marc is an American history teacher who was held hostage by the Russian government and wrongfully sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison,” the White House said in a press release on Tuesday. “On February 12th, President Trump fulfilled his promise to Malphine, Marc’s 95-year-old mother, that he would bring Marc 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.

Meanwhile, Trump recently confirmed that he’s appointing a person whose sentence for a drug-related conviction he commuted to a new role as the nation’s “pardon czar” responsible for facilitating future clemency actions.

Alice Marie Johnson will serve as a designated pardon official at the White House, and she shared a post on Tuesday inviting people to join her in watching the president’s congressional address.

Please join me in watching President Trump address Congress tonight at 9 PM E.T. on all major networks. This is the beginning of the renewal of the American Dream! @POTUS @realDonaldTrump #UnitedTogether pic.twitter.com/W79lQ64QJc

— Alice Marie Johnson (@AliceMarieFree) March 4, 2025

“This is the beginning of the renewal of the American Dream!” she said.

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The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill last year with an attached report demanding that the Biden administration explain why it has not escalated diplomatic efforts to secure the release Fogel.

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.

The resolution said the 14-year sentence that Fogel received after being convicted of “large-scale drugs smuggling” over possession of a half-ounce of cannabis is politically motivated and disproportionate, especially when taking into account the fact that he was using marijuana for medical purposes in accordance with a doctor’s recommendation.

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.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and 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. And it condemned Canada for legalizing marijuana nationwide.

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