An activist who received a pardon for a marijuana-related conviction during President Donald Trump’s first term paid a visit to the White House on Wednesday, discussing future clemency options with the recently appointed “pardon czar.”
As the cannabis community continues to search for signs that the president will proactively engage on the issue after he endorsed rescheduling, industry banking access and a state legalization initiative on the campaign trail, the meeting between Weldon Angelos and the White House official signals at least some openness to the idea of acting on marijuana reform.
Angelos, founder of the criminal justice non-profit The Weldon Project, told Marijuana Moment on Friday that the meeting with Alice Johnson—whose sentence for a drug-related conviction Trump separately commuted and who has since been named the nation’s first White House pardon czar—”left me feeling incredibly hopeful.”
Angelos has been especially focused on assisting the administration with identifying cases warranting clemency for the hundreds still incarcerated in federal prison over non-violent marijuana offenses.
“Alice understands firsthand the urgent need for meaningful clemency, and her compassion, experience, and determination make her the perfect person for this role,” Angelos said. “I’m confident she’s going to accomplish extraordinary things for those who deserve a second chance.”
Advocates and industry stakeholders have been approaching the administration from different angles as they work to raise cannabis policy issues at the executive level in hopes that it could expedite administrative or congressional reform.
Angelos has been particularly active on that front, making bipartisan inroads on Capitol Hill while maintaining relationships with the White House to make the case that Trump is uniquely positioned to leverage the momentum behind cannabis policy reform and see through broader clemency objectives.
Another way the industry has sought to endear itself to the president is more conventional: with money. For example, recently published Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that the major marijuana company Trulieve contributed $750,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee following his election last November.
Combined with the $250,000 that another cannabis company, Curaleaf, donated to the inauguration via U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC), Trump’s team took in at least $1 million from the marijuana industry ahead of his swearing-in ceremony for a second term.
Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers also personally met with Trump last year prior to his endorsement of a Florida cannabis legalization ballot initiative that her company largely funded the campaign for but which ultimately fell short of being enacted.
Separately, a marijuana industry-backed political action committee (PAC) has released a series of ads over recent weeks that have attacked former President Joe Biden’s cannabis policy record as well as the nation of Canada, promoting sometimes misleading claims about the last administration while making the case that Trump can deliver on reform.
Its latest ad accused Biden and his Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of waging a “deep state war” against medical cannabis patients—but without mentioning that the former president himself initiated the rescheduling process that marijuana companies want to see completed under Trump.
Adding uncertainty to that process, Trump’s pick to lead DEA, Terrance Cole, is on record repeatedly voicing concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linking its use to higher suicide risk among youth.
The current acting administrator, Derek Maltz, has separately made a series of sensational claims about marijuana, calling it a gateway drug that sets children up to use other substances, suggesting marijuana use is linked to school shootings and alleging that the Justice Department “hijacked” the cannabis rescheduling process from DEA.
Earlier this month, DEA notified an agency judge that the marijuana rescheduling process is still on hold—with no future actions currently scheduled as the matter sits before Maltz.
Separately, a poll found that a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms. And notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
The survey showed that majorities of overall voters (70 percent) and GOP voters (67 percent) back rescheduling cannabis.
The survey was first noted by CNN in a report last month that quoted a White House spokesperson saying the administration currently has “no action” planned on marijuana reform proposals, including those like rescheduling and industry banking access that Trump endorsed on the campaign trail last year.
The White House has also said that marijuana rescheduling is not a part of Trump’s drug policy priorities for the first year of his second term—a disappointment for advocates and stakeholders who hoped to see him take speedier action.
Meanwhile, former marijuana prisoners who received clemency from Trump during his first term staged an event outside the White House last week, expressing gratitude for the relief they were given and calling on the new administration to grant the same kind of help to others who are still behind bars for cannabis.
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The post Marijuana Activist Pardoned By Trump Meets With White House Officials As Pressure Builds For Reform appeared first on Marijuana Moment.
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