With recreational marijuana legal throughout a significant percentage of the country, many are calling on President Biden and other elected officials to pardon people who have been convicted of marijuana charges in the past. This includes hip-hop stars Drake, Killer Mike, Ty Dolla $ign, T.I., 2 Chainz and others who have teamed up with Weldon Angelos, a cannabis reform activist and the Mission [Green] project.
In a letter sent to the White House, the group’s efforts call on Biden and other elected officials to grant clemency and an unconditional pardon “to all persons subject to federal criminal or civil enforcement on the basis of non-violent marijuana offenses.”
The letter lays out the case for clemency and pardons, largely citing recently passed marijuana legalization as the basis for pardoning non-violent drug offenses.
“Whatever one thinks of other drugs and other defendants, incarcerating marijuana offenders in federal prisons is a misuse of our nation’s resources and grossly hypocritical, given that a clear majority of Americans oppose marijuana prohibition and about half admit to using the drug during their lifetime,” the letter reads. “It also stands against the arc of history and the principle of federalism: nearly three-quarters of the states have now abandoned the federal government’s blanket criminal ban in favor of safe, regulated legal access to marijuana for adults and/or those with qualifying medical conditions.”
Angelos not only has ties to the western states hip-hop community (he is a part-time producer), but he was also arrested for selling marijuana to an undercover informant. Combined with the fact that he also had a firearm, Angelos was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 55 years in federal prison. A Utah investigative journalism piece revealed that even the judge who sentenced Angelos disagreed with the sentence and eventually resigned from the federal bench. After 12 years in prison, Angelos was released and last year was pardoned by President Trump. He has since gone to work with Utah Sen. Mike Lee and other politicians on both sides of the aisle to push for criminal justice system reforms.
The Mission [Green] initiative, which is part of the Weldon Project, works to secure the release of those serving time for cannabis-related offenses and create pathways to expungement or pardons so that those impacted may go on to live meaningful lives. In addition to the celebrities working with Angelos, Snoop Dogg has also been involved with the group’s efforts in the past. According to the group’s website, the Weldon Project is dedicated to funding social change and financial aid for those who are still serving prison time for cannabis-related offenses.
More information can be found here: https://www.theweldonproject.org/missiongreen.
The post Drake, Killer Mike, Ty Dolla $ign, T.I., 2 Chainz, and others join forces for cannabis pardons appeared first on The Source.
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