Marijuana Prohibition is a Big Government Program

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION IS A BIG GOVERNMENT PROGRAM

TODAY’S CANNABIS BUSINESS PLAN

YESTERDAY’S MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY

These are just a few serving Life without Parole for Marijuana

All Nonviolent Marijuana Offenders should have Clemency

 These are some of the nonviolent marijuana people serving sentences of Life for Pot

                               John Knock 11150-017                   

FCI Fairton

PO Box 420

Fairton, NJ.

Circuit:                                                 11^th

Age:                                                    70                   

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to import, distribute and money launder

Priors:                                                              None

Incarcerated since                                1996 Sentenced Jan. 2001

Trial or Plea:                                        Trial

Health Issues:                                      Eye sight, Zygomatic Arch broken and not set, causes chronic sinus infections,            Ankle swells to 2X normal size

                               Ferrell Scott      27797-177

USP Allenwood

PO Box 3000

White Deer, PA. 17887

Circuit:                                                 5th

Age:                                                     55

Charges:                                               Conspiracy -possession

Priors:

Incarcerated since:                               2007

Trial or Plea:                                        Trial

                                       Michael Pelletier        11109-036                     

Terre Haute USP

PO Box 33

Terre Haute, IN. 47808

Circuit:                                                 1st

Age:                                                     62

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to distribute

Priors:                                                  2 prior marijuana

Incarcerated Since:                              2006

Trial or Plea:                                        Trial

Health Issues:                                      Michael has been in a wheel chair since the age of 11 as a result of a farm accident

                                 Craig Cesal        52948-019                       

Terre Haute FCI

PO Box 33

Terre Haute, IN. 47808

Circuit:                                                 11^th

Age:                                                      58

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute

Priors:                                                  trespassing – while in college

Incarcerated Since:                              March 2002

Trial or Plea:                                        Neither – Wanted to take back plea after 1 day – sentenced without trial Or plea

Health Issues:                                      Craig is a brittle diabetic and has a back injury from working for Unicorr

                                  Hector McGurk  25843-180                  

FCI Tucson

PO Box 23811

Tucson, AZ. 85734

Circuit:                                                 4^th

Age:                                                     58

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute conspiracy to money launder

Priors:

Incarcerated Since:                              7/3/2003

Trial or Plea:  Trial –                            1^st        12/2004           hung jury        4/13/2005 convicted

Health Issues:                                      diabetes 

                                  Andy Cox            89487-020                               

USP Big Sandy

PO Box 2068

Inez, KY 41224

Circuit:                                                 11^th

Age:                                                     54

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to manufacture marijuana - growing

Priors:                                                  2 marijuana priors

Incarcerated Since:                              3/13/2008                    sentenced 2/6/2009

Trial or Plea:  Trial                               Trial

Health Issues              

                              Ismael Lira                  45946 – 190

USP Terre Haute

PO Box 33

Terre Haute, IN. 47808

Circuit:                                                 5th

Age:                                                     40

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to distribute marijuan

Priors:                                                  None

Sentenced:                                           Oct. 6. 2006

Trial or plea:                                        Trial

                          Paul Free  42235– 198

FCI Phoenix

37910 N. 45^th Ave

Phoenix, AZ. 85086

Circuit:                                                 6^th

Age:                                                     67

Charges:                                               Conspiracy to distribute marijuana

Priors:                                                  1976 marijuana

Sentenced:                                           1994

Trial or plea:                                        Trial

                      PedroMoreno        71498-079

USP Atwater

P.O. Box 019001

Atwater, CA. 95301

Circuit                                                 5^th

Age                                                     58

Charge                                    

Incarcerated since                               1996

Trial or Plea:                                        Plea

                       WayQuoe Long 00047-111

FCI Victorville

P.O. Box 92301                                  Way has a de-facto life sentence of 50 years

Adlanto, CA, 92301

Circuit:                                                9^th

Age:                                                    56                               

Charge:                                                Conspiracy

Priors:                                                  dui 1989

Incarcerated since:                              1998

Trial or Plea:                                        Trial

                        CorvainCooper  64301-112

USP Atwater

P.O. Box 01900

Atwater, CA. 95301

Circuit:                                                4^th

Age:                                                    39

Charge:                                                Conspiracy

Priors:                                                  Two nonviolent marijuana

Incarcerated since:                              2013

Trial or Plea                                         Trial

                          Rafael Hernandez-Carrillo      67485-061

USP Atwater

P.O. Box 19001

Atwater, CA. 95301

Circuit:                                                6^th

Age                                                     39

Charge:                                                CCE – Conspiracy

Incarcerated since:                              2008

Trial or Plea:                                        Trial

The Prisoners Left Behind

 

The Prisoners Left Behind

How Barack Obama’s clemency operation failed thousands of drug offenders, some serving long sentences for cannabis crimes, and left them at the mercy of Donald Trump’s whims.

Published on Sep 7, 2018 6:50AM EDT

Raishad Hardnett @raishadmomar

Raishad Hardnett is a Philadelphia-based journalist, video producer and short documentary filmmaker. 

The last full day of Barack Obama’s presidency sent years of hopes crashing down for John Richard Knock. On January 19, 2017, Knock sat in his federal prison cell in the middle of Pennsylvania, waiting for a letter. He listened to a small radio that played an NPR station’s reporting on the state’s recently adopted medical marijuana program. For Knock, the report felt like bitter irony: For years, he had watched as cannabis investors began to reel in money for the same activities that had put him behind bars twenty-one years earlier.

Our answer to the NYT about Marijuana Research

July 20,2018 In the New York Times there was an Op-Ed by David  Leondhart encouraging new studies about the safety of marijuana. 

My question is why.  Over the last 30 years there have been literally tens of thousands of studies done by academic institutions, criminal justice policy organizations, medical research institutes, not for profit groups and the federal government. 

You may pick and choose the results that fit your agenda.  No matter what your agenda is, you will find a study that supports it.  In the meantime, there are over 550,000 arrests per year for marijuana offenses.  Although they are not all charged and prosecuted, this interface with law enforcement is often the first encounter for young people and severely compromises their future.

It is estimated that marijuana prohibition may cost up to $ 42 billion dollars per year to investigate, arrest, prosecute and incarcerate.  That does not include the cost of the constant studies funded by government to examine the effects of marijuana use.  What is the purpose of this obsession to study, control and punish those who use this substance that has been legalized to some degree by over 30 states?

The most unfathomable fact about marijuana prohibition is that it still remains on the Controlled Substance Act as a Schedule I drug.  This is a classification that tells us that marijuana is more dangerous than OxyContin, fentanyl and methamphetamine all of which are Schedule II drugs.  All our federal government agencies and regulatory bodies apparently see no contradiction to this official designation. 

There are nonviolent people serving sentences of life without parole for marijuana   offences.  This is happening at the same time that hundreds of millions of dollars are being invested in marijuana business enterprises.  Those doing the investing include past and present elected officials. This is a contradiction that is not fiscally responsible and does not speak to justice and respect for the law.

It appears that the constant data demands never result in action.  Administrative agencies and regulatory bodies have researched, studied, set standards and procedures and recommended change throughout this time.  They have been focused on gaining control and making recommendations that are minuscule and have to be studied and amended and approved by other regulators and agencies till there is no space for actual reform. 

In the meantime, the power of the justice department and law enforcement agencies continues to grow and expand as does the prison population.  This is why I don't fear major disruption of federal agencies. They have failed in the most profound way to assure that there is not egregious prosecution, sentencing and incarceration for marijuana and all other nonviolent drug offenders.

There are many stake holders who would like to maintain the status quo.  They are public employees, law enforcement and prison private contractors, pharmaceutical companies, alcohol and spirits enterprises and surprisingly not for profit and for profit organizations with contracts for recovery and re-entry. 

There may be many reasons to continue to study the risks of marijuana and do nothing to make the law compatible with reality, but I maintain the major factor is economic.  Marijuana prohibition is a big government program.

Attorney General Eric Holder testifying in 2012 before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He served as AG from 2009 to 2015.

Mark Wilson / Getty

Chase Madar Jun 19, 2018

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Eric Holder May Be Considering a Presidential Run. But Has His Time Passed?  

As voters begin to realize that prosecutors in the world's most incarcerated nation may not be the best people to run the government, the era of the prosecutor politician could be on its way out. 

Eric Holder’s recent visit to New Hampshire has sparked speculation that he might mount a presidential run in 2020.

During a June 1 visit  at the “Politics and Eggs” series at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, the former U.S. attorney general blasted gerrymandering—“I think our democracy is under attack”—but puzzlingly endorsed the restrictive voter registration law that New Hampshire Republicans have pushed through the state legislature that now awaits review in the state’s highest court.

These are great suggestions that would be fiscally responsible and also speak to justice

Opinion

N.F.L. Players to Trump: Here’s Whom You Should Pardon

By Doug Baldwin, Anquan Boldin, Malcolm Jenkins and Benjamin Watson

The writers are former and current professional football players.

 President Trump recently made an offer to National Football League players like us who are committed to protesting injustice. Instead of protesting, he suggested, we should give him names of people we believe were “unfairly treated by the justice system.” If he agrees they were treated unfairly, he said, he will pardon them.

Lauren Gill

Lauren is a Brooklyn-based journalist covering criminal justice. Follow her on Twitter.

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Stories By Lauren Gill

Activism1 day ago

Meet the Mother Teresa for Pot Prisoners

A 76-year-old woman has spent the past decade fighting for freedom for marijuana lifers.
 
Beth Curtis used to fill her days playing tennis with friends and attending community board meetings in her rural home of Zanesville, Ohio, a small coal country city on the outskirts of Appalachia. But in the past decade, the social calendar of the 76-year-old widow and mother of three has all but disappeared. Instead, she spends her time corresponding with incarcerated people, sending mailers to cannabis companies, talking to the media, and updating her website, LifeForPot.com—all exercises dedicated to advocating for nonviolent offenders serving life sentences without the possibility of parole on marijuana convictions. Called the “Mother Teresa for Pot Prisoners,” Curtis is lauded as a crucial voice in criminal justice circles for her work calling attention to those who remain incarcerated on marijuana charges as the plant becomes legal across the country.

This gives hope for all the nonviolent marijuana offenders serving sentences of Life for Pot.

Trump asks for clemency names and lists promptly arrive at White House

by Steven Nelson

 | June 11, 2018 06:18 PM 

President Trump told reporters Friday that he wanted to give clemency to more people treated unfairly by the legal system, particularly cases involving people like Alice Johnson, who he released from a life sentence for drug dealing at the request of Kim Kardashian West.
"I want to do people that are unfairly treated like an Alice," he said before boarding a Marine helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House. Hours later, lists of additional names were hand-delivered to the West Wing.

  

This article in the New York Times talks about Trump's Clemency plans and mentions John Knock who is a nonviolent first time marijuana offender who is serving two life terms for a marijuana conspiracy in the 70s and 80s.  

By Katie Benner

WASHINGTON — For those who view the Justice Department’s pardon system as slow and sclerotic, with its backlog of more than 11,000 cases, they need only look to the case of Matthew Charles.

Mr. Charles was sentenced in 1996 to 35 years in prison for selling crack cocaine. In prison, he took college classes, became a law clerk and taught fellow inmates. He was released early, in 2016, and began rebuilding his life, volunteering at a food pantry and even falling in love.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/us/politics/pardons-justice-department-trump.html

Douglas Berman: The Legality of Cannabis in the United States

 
Life for Pot

This is a short video done 
by Raishad Hardnett. 

Opinion

 Opinion Piece - Life for Pot

On the first day of market trading for the New Year, CNBC interspersed programing with positive stories of the new California cannabis businesses.  They covered a broad range of the issues startups would face, but the common theme was prosperity and hope.  Sam Masucci talked about the new marijuana ETF, Marcus Lemonis explored the marijuana business in Humbolt County for The Profit. 

I was ushering in the New Year trying to give hope to people serving life in prison for selling marijuana while Jane Wells, Kate Rogers and Aditi Roy were convincing listeners that California’s cannabis commerce would bring promised affluence.  As the day wore on, the juxtaposition was as incredible as my conclusion – today’s cannabis business plan is yesterday’s marijuana conspiracy.  Life without parole is death by imprisonment.  The people I advocate for, nonviolent marijuana lifers will die in prison while a “new industry” in cannabis takes root.

We hoped that this category of nonviolent prisoner would all receive commutations at the end of the last administration, but they did not.  They are aging in Federal Prisons around the country while they watch the product they are incarcerated for become a main stream commodity and a source of profit for individuals as well as local and state governments. 

Part of the conundrum and the most interesting aspect is marijuana remains on the federal Controlled Substance Act of 1970 as a Schedule 1 Drug.  The characteristic of a Schedule 1 drug are: 1. The drug has a high potential for abuse. 2. The drug has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. 3. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision.1.  

This antiquated Schedule ranks marijuana as more dangerous than OxyContin or Fentanyl.  When criminal law cynically ignores the cultural reality, it can only lead to disrespect for the law and those who attempt to enforce it. According to Federal Code, All Cannabis Business Enterprises are Criminal.

Marijuana prohibition costs 42 billion dollars per year to enforce. 2.  There are up to 500,000 arrests per year by local, state and federal law enforcement.  This is an enormous government program. 3.  Billions of tax dollars are wasted every year on an incoherent policy that could repair a lot of failing bridges.  The fix isn’t complicated.  Removing marijuana from the Controlled Substance Act’s Schedule and allowing it to be regulated like alcohol is the answer.  States are moving in this direction regardless of federal law.

The marijuana prisoners I advocate for are serving life because they were charged with “conspiracy” and became accountable for drugs sold by others, even people they had never met or known. Conspiracy charges hold them responsible for acts that occurred over a period of years and involve many people.  Another common thread is they didn’t plead guilty and chose to exercise their right to a trial.  Legal experts call it the trial penalty.  Key witnesses are usually co-defendants who accept a plea and receive less prison time, government agents, and even witnesses that are testifying for a fee. 

 

These marijuana prisoners all have names and life stories.  They have mothers and fathers, wives, husbands, siblings and children who all have suffered and wonder why there is no mercy.  Their family time is spent traveling to a Federal Prison, being searched and processed, sometimes drug tested, then sitting in a large visiting room with only two hugs allowed and lunch from a vending machine.  We are paying dearly for this in federal treasure and human dignity.  I would like to tell them that they will have a chance to be home with their family before they die.  They have been entrapped in a gigantic failed social experiment and their release would bring it all to a harmonious conclusion.

These sentences are not fiscally responsible and are not compatible with our sense that we are a nation of compassion, mercy and justice.  These nonviolent marijuana offenders with life need sentencing relief either through executive clemency or retroactive legislation.  

1. https://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml

2.  https://www.forbes.com/2007/09/29/marijuana-laws-work-        bizcx_qh_1001pot.html#4674b58b5fe8

3. http://www.drugpolicy.org/do-people-still-get-arrested-and-punished-using-marijuana