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Chelsea Handler, Susan Sarandon, Daveed Diggs, And More Celebs Call For Cannabis Pardons In “Pardons To Progress” Campaign By Headcount’s Cannabis Voter Project & Last Prisoner Project

Apr 20, 2023

CALL-TO-ACTION ENCOURAGES FANS TO CONTACT GOVERNORS AT PARDONSTOPROGRESS.COM. WATCH AND EMBED VIDEO HERE.

April 20, 2023 - Today, HeadCount’s Cannabis Voter Project, which mobilizes voters who want to reform cannabis laws, and the Last Prisoner Project, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform, announced the launch of their Pardons to Progress campaign. The campaign calls for Americans to demand freedom for cannabis prisoners. Pardons to Progress launches with endorsements from a number of celebrities, who are asking their fans to celebrate 4/20 by helping to free the tens of thousands of Americans who are still in jail for cannabis-related offenses. A call-to-action video for Pardons to Progress features notable celebrities including comedian and talk show host Chelsea Handler, Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon, Tony Award-winning actor and musical artist Daveed Diggs, Broad City star Ilana Glazer, TV personality and motivational speaker Montel Williams, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Densmore of The Doors, musician Michael Franti, and Siesta Key star Brandon Gomes, amongst others. Check out the video HERE. 


In the newly released campaign launch video, the group of entertainers call for their fans to celebrate 4/20 by visiting PardonsToProgress.com and emailing their governors about issuing pardons for cannabis prisoners. Additional celebrities in support of the Pardons to Progress campaign include Heisman trophy winner and former NFL star Ricky Williams, rapper and TV personality JoJo Simmons, Yesod Williams of Pepper, and Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast. 


"Americans on both sides of the aisle support pardoning those with cannabis-related convictions. But the public needs to pressure their governors to do what’s right,” said Ricky Williams. “That’s why I am joining the Pardons to Progress campaign to encourage people to urge their governor to use their clemency power to release all cannabis prisoners."


Last year, President Biden announced his plan to pardon 6,500 Americans with federal simple possession of marijuana charges. He called on governors to do the same at the state level, but few of them have taken action so far. HeadCount’s Cannabis Voter Project and Last Prisoner Project launched Pardons to Progress to bring awareness to this issue and inspire Americans to get loud about this injustice—especially now that marijuana is now legal in some form in 39 states and D.C.


HeadCount, one of the nation's largest voter registration organizations, launched HeadCount’s Cannabis Voter Project in 2018 as a way to engage and turn out voters through cannabis reform — an issue that is supported across the political spectrum and is a highly motivating cause to many Americans who are otherwise disenchanted with government. 


“Millions of Americans will celebrate today by consuming cannabis, but it’s important to remember people are still behind bars for doing the same thing,” said Sam D’Arcangelo, Director of HeadCount’s Cannabis Voter Project. “Telling your governor how you feel about this injustice is easier than rolling a joint. We encourage everyone to do it.”


"The vast majority of cannabis charges happen on the state level, which is why we have to push governors to use their clemency power to release those still incarcerated for cannabis," said Sarah Gersten, Executive Director of Last Prisoner Project. "It is time we end the moral hypocrisy of cannabis criminalization and start to repair the harms of the 'War on Drugs'". 



ABOUT LAST PRISONER PROJECT

The Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is a national, nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform. Through legal interention, direct constituent support, advocacy campaigns, and policy change we aim to release every last cannabis prisoner, as well as to repair the harms of this discriminatory and counterproductive crusade. Visit www.lastprisonerproject.org or text FREEDOM to 24365 to learn more.


ABOUT CANNABIS VOTER PROJECT:

Cannabis Voter Project informs, registers and turns out voters who want to change cannabis policy. Launched by civic engagement organization HeadCount.org in 2018, the Cannabis Voter Project believes it’s important for the cannabis community to be an active and informed voting bloc. For more information visit cannabisvoter.info


ABOUT HEADCOUNT: 

HeadCount is a non-partisan non-profit organization that harnesses the power of music, culture and digital media to register voters and inspire participation in democracy. Since 2004, we’ve registered over one million voters through our work with musicians like Ariana Grande, Beyoncé, Dead & Co, Harry Styles and Megan Thee Stallion; events including Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Pride Festivals, and RuPaul's DragCon; plus partnerships with brands like Spotify, Ben & Jerry’s, and GrubHub. Our award-winning online campaigns have been seen over a billion times, while our 50,000 volunteers can be seen at more than 1,000 live events each year. We reach young people where they already are – at concerts and online – to inform and empower.


MEDIA CONTACTS:


HeadCount Contact:

Hustle&Co. 

HeadCountPR@hustleandco.com 


Last Prisoner Project Contacts: 

Press Here

Linda Carbone & Katie Leggett

linda@presshereproductions.com

katie@pressherepublicity.com 

DEA Moves to Officially Reschedule Cannabis

By Sarah Gersten • 30 Apr, 2024
Rescheduling is not legalization, and the existing penalties for cannabis remain unchanged. In October of 2022, President Biden made a series of historic cannabis-related executive actions , including initiating a review by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice on how cannabis is scheduled under federal law. In August 2023, HHS recommended rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug and referred it to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for final approval. Today, the DEA announced its decision to approve the HHS recommendation to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III. The proposal now goes to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to review the rule. If approved by OMB, the proposed rescheduling would go to public comment before being finalized. This historic announcement is the culmination of years of advocacy by Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and other advocacy groups to push the federal government to better reflect the public’s view on cannabis. While the move is undoubtedly a step forward for the movement, it does not meet LPP’s goal to fully remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and its associated criminal penalties. So then, what exactly does this schedule change mean for cannabis justice reform? While the action could result in some favorable tax and banking reform for the cannabis industry and more dedicated research for cannabis patients, there are no changes in how the criminal legal system punishes cannabis users. Rescheduling is a peripheral change that signals the reevaluation of cannabis, but not the release of cannabis prisoners or relief for those who continue to be burdened by the lasting consequences of the carceral system. In short, this announcement represents progress but not justice. Despite not achieving full legalization, we must use this historic moment to push the fight for cannabis justice forward by broadening the scope of Biden’s cannabis clemency action, working with Congress and certain administrative agencies to both provide retroactive relief and to reduce prospective cannabis criminal enforcement, and incentivizing states to provide broad retroactive relief, particularly in states that have adopted a fully legal cannabis market. Learn more about ways cannabis justice advocates can leverage this change to advance reforms in our recent memo . LPP is committed to continuing the fight for cannabis justice until everyone is fully free from the harms of the War on Drugs. This means advocating for cannabis to be fully descheduled. To ensure we keep the pressure on descheduling, retroactive relief, and full legalization, Last Prisoner Project helped organize the largest bipartisan group of cannabis advocates in Washington D.C. on April 18th, 2024 for our 420 Unity Day of Action to urge Congress and the President to take further action. Last Prisoner Project believes that complete descheduling is a necessary step towards correcting past injustices and creating a fair and equitable criminal legal system. We will continue to leverage the momentum achieved from our advocacy to ensure that individuals burdened with past cannabis convictions have their records expunged and all cannabis prisoners are released, regardless of the federal scheduling decision.

President Biden Grants Clemency to 16 Non-Violent Drug Offenders, But No Cannabis Offenses Included

By Stephen Post • 27 Apr, 2024
President Joe Biden made a statement Wednesday announcing a decision to pardon 11 people convicted of non-violent drug charges and commuted the sentences of five others. "America is a nation founded on the promise of second chances," he said . "We also recommit to building a criminal justice system that lives up to those ideals and ensures that everyone receives equal justice under law." Despite this positive use of his clemency powers, President Biden again failed to include any people still in prison at the federal level for cannabis offenses which is estimated to be at least 3,000 individuals. Even though he has provided record relief to almost 13,000 people with his expanded cannabis possession pardons, the President has failed to release a single person in prison for cannabis. Last Prisoner Project Executive Director, Sarah Gersten said, "While we are encouraged to see the President use his clemency power to commute the sentences of those incarcerated for drug offenses, we are hopeful that the administration will fulfill their promises both to use the clemency power more robustly as well as to commute the sentences of those still incarcerated for cannabis." "The Administration has made it clear that cannabis reform is a priority and one that will energize their electorate. To truly make an impact that will sway voters come November the president needs to take action to release the estimated 3,000 individuals still incarcerated for cannabis federally." We hope that President Biden recognizes that releasing people with cannabis offenses doesn't require legalization. They demand executive action. If he is looking for the next batch of candidates for clemency, we have already sent him a list of deserving individuals whose petitions are sitting with the Office of the Pardon Attorney. He simply needs to act on them. We recently rallied advocates at the White House on our 420 Unity Day of Action to demand their freedom and encourage the public to help tell Congress and the President to take further action.

Donte West Joins Jason Flom on Wrongful Conviction Podcast to Discuss His Unjust Cannabis Sentence

By Stephen Post • 26 Apr, 2024
Listen on: iHeartRadio | Pandora | Spotify | RSS On March 8, 2016, Officer Nicholas Blake became suspicious of two vehicles traveling together on Interstate 70 toward Manhattan, KS due to their appearance and registration inconsistencies. He suspected they were involved in drug trafficking, with one acting as a decoy. Following a series of stops and surveillances by multiple law enforcement officers, a considerable amount of marijuana and methamphetamine was found in one of the vehicles leading to the arrest of Donte Westmoreland and others. Westmoreland was convicted based largely on the testimony of an informant, Jacob Gadwood, who claimed to have bought marijuana from Donte, but the informant's credibility was later questioned, and a prosecutorial deal ensuring Gadwood would not be charged with a crime was never disclosed. Donte Westmoreland is a decriminalization and anti-incarceration advocate whose experience with the criminal justice system changed his life forever. With a no criminal record score, and nothing illegal in his possession, Donte was arrested and convicted on charges that were later overturned. He spent three years imprisoned, where with the support of the facility's Warden and staff, he worked to fight his charges and also spoke to area teens about his experience with law enforcement and the courts. He was released on October 15, 2020 and is re-establishing his life in northern California where he works with the Last Prisoner Project to help free anyone incarcerated on cannabis related charges. Learn more about Donte in recent stories by Cannabis & Tech , Missouri Independent , and ABC . To learn more and get involved, visit: https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/ https://fromtheearth.com/missouri/independence-menu/?dtche%5Bpath%5D=brands%2Fwest-by-illicit We started the Wrongful Conviction podcast to provide a voice to innocent people in prison. We want to hear your voices, too. So call us at 833-207-4666 and leave us a message. Tell us how these powerful, often tragic and sometimes triumphant, stories make you feel. Shocked? Inspired? Motivated? We want to know! We may even include your story in a future episode. And hey, the more of you that join in, the more power our collective voices will have. So tell a friend to listen and to call us too at 833-207-4666. Wrongful Conviction is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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