Campaign Raises $30K To Help Release Cannabis Prisoners In Michigan

The Last Prisoner Project, a non-profit focused on bringing restorative justice to those most affected by cannabis’ illegality, has joined forces with the Cannabis Caucus of the Michigan Democratic Party and The Redemption Foundation to launch the Michigan Cannabis Prisoner Release Campaign.

The fund has already raised $30,000. Proceeds will be used to advocate for and secure the release and record expungement of Rudi Gammo, Michael Thompson and other nonviolent Michigan cannabis prisoners.

“Cannabis is a legal regulated product sold with approval by the state of Michigan. No one should remain in prison for non-violent cannabis offenses in this state or anywhere else. This campaign will be an important tool to help remaining cannabis felons successfully re-enter society and become contributing members of their community,” Ryan Basore, founder of The Redemption Foundation and CEO of Lansing-based Redemption Cannabis, told Benzinga.

Founding supporters of the campaign include: Weedmaps, C3 Indu­stries, Skymint, Redemption Cannabis, Gage Cannabis USA, The Botanical Company, Truu Cannabis, Home Grown, Driven Grow, Om of Medicine, Michigan Cannabis Industry Association, Real Leaf Solutions, Great Lakes Holistics, Northern Specialty Health, ­Fresh Coast Extracts, Bullit Budz, Midnight Roots, Sparrow Consulting, 02VAPES, Green Cross Detroit, Arbors Wellness, Act Labs, Cloud Cannabis, The Refinery, Cannrose Cannabis Co., Martin Waymire, and 3Fifteen Cannabis. 

Sarah Gersten, executive director and general counsel of LPP, told Benzinga, "We feel that it is a moral imperative for every cannabis company profiting off of legal cannabis sales in Michigan to support these efforts to release every last cannabis prisoner in Michigan and help to rebuild the lives that have been devastated by unjust marijuana laws. We also call on Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel to keep their promise of releasing cannabis prisoners."

In a prepared statement, actor Montel Williams added, “Michigan’s failure to address restorative justice as part of cannabis legalization shocks the conscience.”

He reminded how Governor Whitmer “made a campaign promise and yet somehow, because her parole board refuses to perform its statutory duty in a timely fashion, Michael Thompson remains in a Muskegon prison, now in his 25th year behind bars for selling three pounds of cannabis to an undercover officer in a crime that hurt no one.”

Rudi Gammo, an operator of a medical dispensary in Detroit who sold to patients with valid medical cards, is also serving more than 5 years in prison. “I got the celebrity treatment when I got arrested, and the disparity between my outcome and the outcomes for Michael and Rudi haunt me. Madam Governor, it’s long past time to empty Michigan’s prisons of non-violent cannabis offenders,” Williams ended.

You can donate to the campaign following this link.