Wiz Khalifa given 9-month jail sentence in Romania for smoking weed on stage
A Romanian appeals court overturned a fine against the US rapper concerning an incident that took place at Beach, Please! Festival in 2024
Wiz Khalifa has been sentenced to nine months in prison by a Romanian court after he was arrested and charged with cannabis possession last year.
The incident occurred while the US rapper performed on stage at Beach, Please! Festival in Costinești on July 13, 2024; police had originally questioned Khalifa, real name Thomaz Cameron Jibril, following the incident, charging him with drug possession for personal use.
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Jibril was originally issued a fine of 3,600 Romanian lei (£617), after he was discovered to be in possession of around 18 grams of cannabis, BBC News reports.
Following the incident, Wiz Khalifa posted on Twitter insisting he "didn’t mean any disrespect to the country of Romania". He wrote: "They were very respectful and let me go. I’ll be back soon. But without a big ass joint next time."
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However, last week, the Constanța Court of Appeal overturned the fine, sentencing Wiz Khalifa in absentia to nine months in prison, claiming that the musician was encouraging "drug use among young people" through his "ostentatious" cannabis use while performing.
Judges labelled Wiz Khalifa a "music performer, on the stage of a music festival well known among young people, who possessed and consumed, in front of a large audience predominantly made up of very young people, an artisanal cigarette".
According to BBC News, it is unlikely Wiz Khalifa will be forced to serve his prison sentence due to Romania's lack of negotiating power for extradition, particularly with Wiz Khalifa being a wealthy individual, alongside the differing legal status of cannabis in the US.
[Via: BBC News]
Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on Twitter
