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American rapper Wiz Khalifa has been sentenced in absentia to nine months in prison by a Romanian court for smoking cannabis on stage last year.

In July 2024, Khalifa, whose real name is Thomaz Cameron Jibril, was charged with illegal drug possession after lighting up a joint during his performance at the ‘Beach, Please!’ music festival, a seaside event held in Romania, AFP reported.

He was released initially shortly after the incident and fined 3,600 Romanian lei ($829) for drug possession, as per BBC.

“During a performance at a music festival held in the resort of Costinesti, the accused was found to have possessed more than 18 grams of cannabis and to have consumed (on stage) another quantity in the form of a handmade cigarette,” Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said in a statement, according to AFP.

Following his release, the ten-time Grammy-nominated artist issued an apology on X, insisting there was no ill intent behind his actions.

“I didn’t mean any disrespect to the country of Romania by lighting up on stage. They were very respectful and let me go,” the rapper wrote.

However, despite the initial fine, the Constanța branch of DIICOT appealed the ruling — and won. According to Rolling Stone, the appellate court overturned the earlier decision, leading to Khalifa’s prison sentence.

In a written decision, the Constanța Court of Appeal judges said they overturned the original fine because the artist had sent “a message of normalisation of illegal conduct” and thereby encouraged “drug use among young people”, BBC reported.

Describing it as an “ostentatious act”, the court noted that the rapper was “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”.

It remains unclear if Romanian authorities will pursue extradition. Khalifa was seen in the US on Wednesday, spending two and a half hours on Twitch, streaming and smoking weed.

Cannabis remains illegal in Romania for both medical and recreational use. In contrast, while marijuana is legal for medical and recreational use in several US states, it is still prohibited under federal law. Yesterday, US President, Donald Trump signed an executive order to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I narcotic to a Schedule III drug — placing it under the same category as Tylenol with codeine. Marking the most significant shift in US drug policy in decades, this move is aimed at expanding access to cannabis for research purposes.