Brittney Griner is turning lemons into lemonade as co-founder of a new travel membership service called Zennjet.
Zennjet was created to help travelers who carry prescription medications navigate complex international laws and avoid legal trouble. The initiative stems directly from Griner’s own detainment in Russia in 2022, when airport authorities found cannabis oil in the WNBA star’s luggage while she was playing overseas.
Zennjet offers members a range of services intended to reduce risk and provide travelers with clarity and guidance on the rules for carrying various medicines. Membership includes access to legal counsel, translation support, destination-specific guidance on drug laws, and a 24-hour emergency line.
Griner said her ignorance of Russian laws regarding cannabis oil led to a 10-month imprisonment, an experience she would not wish on others.
“I never want anybody to go through what I went through. I’m aware that I’m very blessed and very lucky to have an agency team, my wife and everybody behind me,” she told
USA Today. “I want people to be able to be aware, informed, and to know where they’re going, where they’re traveling,” she said.The company’s idea reflects lessons the Atlanta Dream player said she learned during her 10-month detention in Russia. She was convicted of drug possession for traveling with cannabis-derived vape cartridges in her bags and sentenced to prison before she was released in a prisoner exchange. Although medical cannabis was prescribed to her for off-season pain, the substance was illegal under Russian law.
Zennjet also plans to assist travelers in replacing prescriptions that are lost, stolen or confiscated, and offer repatriation support if a member is detained abroad. Griner and her team stress that understanding local drug laws before travel is key to avoiding legal woes, particularly when medications that are lawful in one country may be restricted in another.
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