Over 150 celebrities including the rapper Drake and NBA athletes have signed an open letter to President Biden calling for a general pardon of non-violent cannabis offences.
NBA athlete Al Harrington, rapper Drake, world champion boxer Badou Jack, rapper and activist Killer Mike, NBA star John Wall along with Meek Mill and Julio Jones announced at a live-streamed event that they have co-written and signed a letter addressed to President Joe Biden. The letter requests a general pardon for ‘all persons subject to federal criminal or civil enforcement on the basis of a nonviolent marijuana offence.”
The idea for the letter to president Biden came from Weldon Angelos of the Weldon Project/ Mission Green and Academy for Justice Director Erik Luna. The Weldon Project aims to help fund social change and financial aid for those who are still serving prison time for cannabis-related offences. Angelo was an emerging musician before he was sent to prison for selling less than $1,000 worth of cannabis. Despite it being his first offence, Angelos went on to service 13 years of his term before eventually being released in 2016. He founded the project upon being released.
The letter includes signatures from 150 athletes, artists, law enforcement officials, academics, business leaders, producers, lawmakers, policy experts, reform advocates and other professionals.
It reads: “This resolve is witnessed today in both red and blue states, from coast to coast, as the American people call for an end to cannabis prohibition. Whatever one thinks of other drugs and other defendants, incarcerating cannabis offenders in federal prisons is a misuse of our nation’s resources and grossly hypocritical, given that a clear majority of Americans oppose cannabis prohibition and about half admit to using the drug during their lifetime.”
The live-streamed event discussed the letter to President Biden while placing an emphasis on a call for a general pardon. Speaking with Benzinga, Angelos said that the celebrities who had signed the letter had done so in support of a fellow artist, Ralo who is facing eight years for a cannabis offence. Despite several states switching to safe, regulated cannabis programs.
“When Biden ran for president, he promised to take action and use the pardon power of the presidency to release those serving prison time for marijuana and pardon their felony convictions,” Angelos said. “At a time when dispensaries are as prevalent as liquor stores in some states, it is time for President Biden to now make good on that promise.”
In a press release, Ralo said: “I appreciate my friends and peers in the hip-hop community, such as Drake & Killer Mike, for supporting my clemency because it’s just not right that corporations are allowed to violate federal law and become millionaires while people like myself go to prison for years,”
He added: “This is hypocrisy. But I am hopeful that Joe Biden will honour his campaign promise and grant us clemency, without delay, so that we can return home to our families and communities.”
Angelos also highlighted that the long term effects for those incarcerated ‘go beyond the prison walls’ making it difficult for former prisoners to get jobs, access to affordable housing or educational loans. “They’re limited in so many ways that people don’t realize when they just want to begin again and contribute to society. Enough is enough. No one should be locked up in federal prison for marijuana.”
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