Relson Gracie Released From Prison Following Defense

A jiu-jitsu pioneer, Relson Gracie was set to face 15 years in prison following a run-in with the law a few days ago. It only took a few days, however, for Gracie to be set free following a judge accepting his defense that the cannabis he was carrying was for medicinal use.

A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu National Champion for over 22 years, Gracie was charged with drug trafficking after Federal Highway Police dogs found several forms of cannabis in his bag during a bus trip from between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Following a trial, it was determined Gracie was innocent of any wrongdoing.

“The athlete and professor Relson Gracie was a victim of a big misunderstanding,” lawyer Joao Francisco Neto stated to MMA Fighting. “He lives in the U.S. and brought cannabidiol-based medication for therapeutic purposes, all industrialized and obtained with a prescription in that country. His arrest during a routine inspection by police officers was promptly revoked by the Judiciary. Such medication can already be imported with a mere prescription, according to a recent ANVISA resolution, which deflates any possibility of a crime being committed.”

Relson, the son of Helio Gracie, currently trains fighters in the way of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu at his academy Rio. The Brazilian government, most notably the health regulatory agency ANVISA, is against domestic cultivation but approved media marijuana use last December.