By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
On June 14 at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the 2018 FIFA World Cup will commence its tour through eleven Russian cities including Moscow, Sochi, and Saint Petersburg.
Luzhniki Stadium
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life come from around the world to watch the World Cup each year, and some of them use medicinal cannabis which isn’t legal everywhere. But medical marijuana patients are covered at this year’s tournament as long as they can provide the proper proof.
It is illegal to use cannabis or drugs like heroin or cocaine in Russia, though possession of up to six grams of cannabis or two grams of hash is treated as a civil infraction rather than a criminal one. According to a recent Moscow Times article, World Cup attendees will be permitted to use the substances medicinally as long as they have the proper documentation and have filled out the appropriate customs declaration.
Krestovsky Stadium
The Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union makes allowances for travelers to the normally-strict drug laws in the bloc at any time, whether there is a World Cup happening or not. As long as a person has notarized documentation in both Russian and English that certifies them for medicinal cannabis use, then they will not be penalized.
But this year won’t mark the first time that cannabis use has been allowed at a soccer championship event. Feeling that a stoned crowd would be easier to deal with than a drunk one, back in 2004, the European Football Association (UEFA) allowed fans to use cannabis during the UEFA Euro Championship that year in Portugal.
Officers will be on duty at each World Cup venue to verify the legitimacy of medical documentation. In a statement to an Izvestia newspaper, Russia’s 2018 World Cup Organizing Committee said that security officers “will monitor the enforcement of rules for carrying prescription drugs to stadium grounds at checkpoints.”
Zabivaka the Wolf, 2018 FIFA World Cup Mascot
Because the stadiums are non-smoking venues, only edibles, vaping, and other non-combustion-based forms of consumption will be allowed.
This year’s World Cup will mark the first European installment of the tournament since 2006 when it was held in Germany, and the first year that Russia has hosted the traveling soccer event since it first started in Uruguay in 1930.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup concludes at the Luzhniki Stadium on July 15.
