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Last Prisoner Project Announces Jason Ortiz As New Director Of Strategic Initiatives

Aug 01, 2023

August 1, 2023 - Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is pleased to announce that Jason Ortiz will serve as the organization’s new Director of Strategic Initiatives.


Jason has been on the frontlines of the cannabis equity movement, and as a founder and President of the Minority Cannabis Business Association, Jason led efforts to create model cannabis equity policies at the state and municipal levels. 


In his recent role as Executive Director with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Jason pushed federal drug reform by leading an act of civil disobedience at the White House that demanded pardons for those in federal prison for cannabis crimes. He also mobilized a National Federal Lobby Day in DC advocating for cannabis prisoner release, increased accessibility to  psychedelic research, and pushed the Department of Education to allow harm reduction on college campuses. In addition to participating in both of these events, LPP worked with Jason to successfully pass prisoner release legislation (HB6787) through the Connecticut House of Representatives. 


Jason will also use his deep knowledge of the drug policy space to help LPP assess new opportunities for strategic growth. As more jurisdictions decriminalize other substances LPP has the opportunity to leverage the model they have successfully built for cannabis criminal justice reform to other drugs including psychedelics.


“I became an activist because of how the criminal justice system treated me as a youth, where I narrowly avoided incarceration. I'm eager to focus all of my energy toward making sure no one is left in prison over drug crimes,” said Jason. “Freeing my community from the criminal justice system has always been my passion, and it is an honor to join a team that is focused and effective at freeing our people. With the cannabis and psychedelic industries growing at a rapid pace, my energy is most needed making sure that no one is left behind, and that is exactly what I intend to do as the newest member of the Last Prisoner Project team.” 


“When the first states legalized cannabis, there were no social justice measures attached to legalization laws. It has taken years to provide even the most basic forms of retroactive relief for cannabis offenses in states that were early adopters of legalization. It is imperative that we do not repeat that mistake and ensure from the start that as we begin to legalize and regulate other drugs, and as some stand to profit from a regulated market for psychedelics, that we are also ensuring retroactive relief for those who have been unjustly impacted by the criminal legal system.” said LPP Executive Director, Sarah Gersten. “We are thrilled that Jason has come on board to help us not only fulfill our mission, but to broaden our services to meet the needs of many deserving victims of the ongoing War on Drugs.”


If you are interested in supporting LPP’s work, you can reach out to info@lastprisonerproject.org for more information.

Last Prisoner Project Supports the Reintroduction of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA)

By Stephen Post • 02 May, 2024
This week, Senators Booker, Schumer, and Wyden reintroduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), comprehensive legislation that would legalize cannabis federally, expunge cannabis records, and release cannabis prisoners. Here are just a few highlights to help breakdown this bill: CAOA, if passed, could finally decriminalize cannabis on the federal level. Federal courts would have 1 year to expunge or seal arrests, convictions, and juvenile delinquency adjudications for most non-violent federal cannabis offenses. They'd also be required to educate recipients on the effects of their expungement(s). Some federal cannabis tax revenue would be directed to organizations that help people secure state-level cannabis expungements. The Bureau of Prisons would have 60 DAYS TO RELEASE (and vacate the convictions of) individuals serving tiem for most federal cannabis-only offenses. Individuals whose convictions don't fall under those guidelines, or whose sentences were enhanced because of prior cannabis convictions, would be able to petition the court for a reduced sentence. The feds wouldn't be able to deny people federal public assistance because of cannabis use, possession, or convictions. They also would not be able to consider cannabis a controlled substance for the purposes of immigration proceedings. Read more about the CAOA here and read recent coverage in Filter Mag and Marijuana Moment of our 420 Unity Day where we joined with advocates to talk to Sen. Schumer and other lawmakers about the CAOA and other efforts to enact cannabis justice

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.
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