One of the largest consequences of the ‘94 crime bill was something called mandatory minimums. Basically, it gave courts the right to give life sentences to repeat offenders. In many cases, for crimes that never would have received such a long sentence otherwise. The devastation that rule caused and in some states continues to cause, is hard to comprehend. And while certain politicians say that they've learned from the "mistakes" of the crime bill, many of those politicians are still in office. In some cases, even running for president. At the same time, it's also true that many of those people that they jailed are still in prison. Currently no state has retroactive release programs for prisoners serving time for cannabis related offenses. Let's be absolutely clear here, that means that in states that have legalized cannabis sales, the people locked up by that crime Bill "by mistake", will continue serving their time. In some cases, life sentences for something that's no longer illegal. It's true that states like Illinois have issued thousands of pardons, but they've chosen not to make it an automatic process.

Andrew DeAngelo is the co-founder and treasurer for the board of directors of the Last Prisoner Project. The organization has made it its mission to fight for the release of inmates still serving time for cannabis related crimes. When Andrew was nine years old, his older brother, who was a cannabis activists himself, was arrested. I reached out to Andrew to find out how that experience informs the work that he does today, how we got to this moment as a country, and where we go next.

Last Prisoner Project Website: https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/

Andrew DeAngelo's Website: https://andrewdeangelo.com/index.html

The Harborside Group Website: https://shopharborside.com/

On The High Ground, we feature leaders of the cannabis industry. We talk to everyone from farmers to CEOs, and public officials - anyone making an impact on the cannabis community and beyond.

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