Romania: getting stoned on stage proves costly for Wiz Khalifa

WEB DESK: An appeals court in Romania has handed American rapper Wiz Khalifa a nine-month prison sentence after ruling that he smoked cannabis during a live performance at a music festival last year.

The artist, whose real name is Thomaz Cameron Jibril, acknowledged lighting a joint while on stage at the Beach, Please! festival in the coastal town of Costinești in July 2024. Romanian prosecutors later charged him with possessing drugs for personal use.

Initially, a lower court had fined the rapper 3,600 Romanian lei, but that ruling was overturned by the Constanța Court of Appeal, which replaced the penalty with a custodial sentence. The decision was delivered in absentia, and it remains unclear whether Jibril is currently in Romania. He was most recently seen performing in California earlier this week.

Following the concert, police briefly detained and questioned the rapper before releasing him. Investigators later said he was found with more than 18 grams of cannabis and had also consumed the substance publicly during the show.

In its written judgment, the appeals court said the fine was insufficient, arguing that the on-stage drug use sent a message that normalised illegal behaviour. Judges said the incident risked encouraging drug use among young people, noting that the performance took place at a festival popular with a youthful audience.

Describing the act as deliberate and highly visible, the court said the performer had used an illegal substance in front of a large crowd, many of whom were minors.

A day after the incident, Jibril posted on X saying he had not intended to disrespect Romania, adding that authorities had treated him courteously and joking that he would return without cannabis.

Romanian criminologist Vlad Zaha described the sentence as unusually severe and said it was highly unlikely the United States would extradite the rapper to serve time. He cited Romania’s limited leverage in extradition cases, the artist’s profile, and the differing legal status of cannabis in the US.

Wiz Khalifa, a multiple Grammy nominee known for hits such as Black and Yellow, See You Again and Young, Wild & Free, has frequently associated his public image with marijuana culture and launched his own cannabis brand in 2016.

While cannabis has been legalised for medical or recreational use in several US states, it remains prohibited under US federal law.