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40K People Are In Prison For Cannabis In The US: Here’s How Steve DeAngelo, Damian Marley And Stephen Marley Are Helping Them

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It is no secret that the U.S. has the largest prisoner population in the world. It seems like, in the land of the free, freedom is ironically not available to every citizen. In fact, there are more than 40,000 people incarcerated for cannabis-related offenses in our country.

This infuriating stat becomes even harder to digest when one considers the fact that cannabis is now legal across the country, and people are making millions, if not billions, of the rapidly evolving industry built around the long-criminalized plant. Meanwhile, arrests for cannabis possession continue to outpace those for all violent crimes combined. And this has been shown to disproportionately affect minorities, especially blacks and Latinxs.

Now, it is also true that many of the jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis offer people expungement programs, ways to get out of jail and get records trashed. However, many of the individuals affected by the infamous War on Drugs lack the knowledge or financial resources to seek relief through these clemency and expungement programs.

See Also: Drug Testing At Work Is A Thing Of The Past, Study Finds

Seeking to address this, famed cannabis activist and entrepreneur Steve DeAngelo has teamed up with Damian and Stephen Marley, Dean Raise, Andrew DeAngelo, Tahira Rehmatullah, and several other prominent figures in the cannabis community to launch the Last Prisoner Project.

“Those of us fortunate enough to find success and build wealth in the cannabis industry have an opportunity to make sure that every single cannabis prisoner is released and supported through the process of rebuilding their lives by providing support for clemency, expungement and re-entry programs,” DeAngelo explained during a recent conversation.

This is the idea behind LPP. This advocacy organization will do one thing, and one thing alone, seek to get every last cannabis prisoner on the planet out of jail and back to their homes. The organization is focusing its efforts on:

·     Clemency: working to release individuals incarcerated for non-violent marijuana crimes

·     Re-entry: provide training and resources to help those released to rebuild their lives and be supported by their communities;

·     Advocacy: LPP is seizing on the current momentum surrounding criminal justice reform to promote legislation that ensures that all cannabis prisoners walk free, as well as supporting resentencing and retrial efforts for the most egregious cannabis sentences.

LPP is in the process of raising $350,000 to fund the first phase of the Cannabis Clemency Project. People can donate to this cause by visiting www.lastprisonerproject.org or texting “Freedom” to 24365.

See Also: This Company Is Offering Cannabis For U.S. Military Veterans At A 30% To 50% Discount

Spanish version on ElPlanteo.com: Los Hijos de Bob Marley y Su Proyecto para Liberar a Presos por Marihuana

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