Medical Cannabis will be Legal at 2018 FIFA World Cup
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]hanks to an obscure legal loophole, medical cannabis will be legal with supporting documentation for fans attending the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be held between June 14 and July 15 in Russia, according to The Moscow Times.
The Moscow-based Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a joint economic trade bloc that includes countries such as Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. According to the EAEU’s customs guidelines, some narcotics are allowed, at least across borders of EAEU member countries, so long as it is accompanied with a medical documentation in English or Russian. The EAEU guidelines theoretically allow for banned psychotropic drugs, specifically cocaine, codeine, morphine, amphetamines and cannabis.
Travelers who wish to bring medical drugs will need to fill out a passenger customs declaration form and specify which drugs they wish to bring in. “Security officers will monitor the enforcement of rules for carrying prescription drugs to stadium grounds at checkpoints,” the committee said on Feb. 27. The rules originate from a November 2015 ruling from the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECE) that allows travelers to bring a limited amount of drugs into certain countries only when accompanied with “supporting medical documents indicating the name and quantity of goods.”
A Newsweek report claimed that cocaine and heroin will be allowed inside, but according to RT.com, this development will have no real-life implications for drugs like cocaine as there is no acceptable medical documentation in the countries participating in the World Cup. Aleksey Sorokin, chief executive of the 2018 FIFA World Cup further dispelled rumors about cocaine and other drugs, saying, “there isn’t even anything to comment on.”
According to the Russia-based newspaper Izvestia, this rule will apply to FIFA spectators. The already-existing smoking bans in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi venues will also still be in effect.
