Federal marijuana prisoners recently called out President Biden ahead of the annual 4/20 cannabis holiday as he hasn’t kept his campaign promise to free “everyone” behind bars for pot but Biden suggests in public remarks he’s already fulfilled that pledge via NY Post.
Four inmates spoke said that the 81-year-old president’s quest for a second term could only be helped by letting them go after critics denounced as a PR stunt Biden’s 2022 mass-pardon for up to 6,500 people with simple pot possession convictions, of whom none were in prison.
“When a political candidate ignores the social issues of his constituents, he is destined to lose,” said Edwin Rubis, 55, who is 24 years into a 40-year sentence for taking part in a marijuana-dealing conspiracy in the Houston area in the 1990s.
“It is time for our president to take action. Rhetoric is no longer effective at this late stage of the game,” said Rubis, who was arrested by the DEA in 1998 when he was 29.
“We all know President Biden wants to serve out a second term. The way to attain such a feat rests with the voters. Release all cannabis prisoners and we will vote for you,” said Rubis.
Parker Coleman was sentenced in 2014 to 60 years in prison for leading a group that authorities say imported four tons of marijuana from California to North Carolina, said “this isn’t just about correcting individual injustices; it’s about aligning our nation’s values with its actions.”
“Every day that passes without change is a missed opportunity for the president,” added Coleman, who is serving a 30 year sentence for dealing marijuana and money laundering, with a consecutive 30-year sentence for owning guns while doing so.
“The time for action is now, and I, along with countless others, await the chance to contribute positively to a society that recognizes our worth beyond our sentences.”
Support for relaxing marijuana laws and freeing inmates doesn’t fall neatly along party lines. Currently, the drug is allowed for recreational use in 24 states — including conservative Alaska, Missouri and Montana — and voters in Florida will decide whether to become the 25th in November.
Former President Donald Trump had released some of the most harshly sentenced federal pot inmates on his final day in office in January 2021, including seven people with life sentences, two of whom were sent away under the Biden-authored 1994 crime law. Pot reform advocates say Biden has yet to live up to his promise to release the rest.
