Damian Marley: Freedom Issue

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S T N E T N O AT BLE OF C 4 The Stone Age 0 Tons 8 Corvain Cooper: 4 ial Impact 10 oc S of O E C e: et gr Loriel Ale s 2 Freedom 14 ar Ye 5 2 : n so p om h Michael T 18 : A Family Story Planting Evidence 24 om The Most High Fr y: le ar M n ie am D 0 Berner Speaks 3

ct 36 Last Prisoner Proje stival 40 Uproar Hip Hop Fe 2 GKUA Inspired 4 Burlesque 45 a Patterson 48 Topeka Sam & Tyr or 50 The Hood Incubat nd 51 Cannabis Impact Fu

New York, NY 646-632-7711 klemag.com honey@honeysuc azine @honeysucklemag

ct 52 The Marshall Proje 4 420 NJ Events 5 ood Fight 55 G 's n so n oh J ir h Ta Hurt People 56 le p eo P rt u H : on Jessica Jacks NY 58 The New Faces of acy 60 s Farm anny'Emily erate:ofFrKush: Queen Eizen 6 Regen 2 Berks Forward 6 Sustainable Oral Care: Terra & Co 10

Hudson Hemp and Treaty 11 Luxury CBD 12 Chemdog: A Cannabis Legend at 30 14 The Benefits of Delta-8 THC 18 I'm a Business, Man: Lil Wayne 20 Gaspar Noe: An Exclusive 28 Vision: Robert Hayman 36 Over the Rainbow 42 King Noire: Decolonizing Porn 46 NYC Legalizes 52 The Cure-Rater 54 Silent Cry: Post Traumatic Prison Disorder 57 2020: A Look Back 64 Green New Deal 65 Empathy and Dismantling Identity 66 Abolish Not Reform 68 Myth of the Model Minority 72 Trans New York 76 Elegance 80 Eye of the Storm: Feathers Wise 82 French Smut 86 Tarot by Theresa Reed The Tarot Lady 89

PHOTOS: B+

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Since our inception, Honeysuckle has been motivated by three main aims: Freedom, beauty and truth. From our first issue in 2015 titled Rebel Yell, we spoke of the unheard cries from many different communities.

Now years later, we continue to dive deep into some of America’s darkest depths.

Publish

Our society does not teach us to understand traumas that motivate people to break ‘laws.’ These ‘perpetrators’ - who are often victims themselves - are punished. Aand often to the fullest extent.

er’s Let

ter

“Hurt people hurt people,” said Dream Corps JUSTICE co-founder and REFORM Alliance Chief Advocacy Officer Jessica Jackson. The brunt of our system is borne by America’s poor, and often, those with darker skin tones. Only to turn profits for the stakeholders in the American Prison Industrial Complex.

The Prison Industrial Complex is hell for those who are in it. Make no mistake, “It’s torture,” Michael Thompson told us.

Thompson, incarcerated for 25 years, was recently released with the help of the restorative justice nonprofit Last Prisoner Project (LPP). His crime? Selling three pounds of weed.

Today, there are people making millions of dollars in the growing cannabis industry while others continue to suffer behind the wall - through COVID-19, without adequate healthcare, human care or any care.

We also hear from Corvain Cooper, sentenced to life without parole before c lemency granted by then-President Donald Trump.

The cannabis industry is a microcosm for the world. For all of its ills, pains, hopes and joys. The plant is plentiful; hemp provides clothing, food, shelter, soil remediation and so much more. Cannabis helps people personally, mentally, physically, and emotionally. However, the dark side of the industry is no different than the corruption we find in any other industry.

People claim to “love the plant and all it can do,” but when push comes to shove, we often see the same value systems destroying our planet.

In our interview with Berner, one of cannabis’ most famous and successful entrepreneurs for example; he explains that some of the more “cutthroat and competitive attitudes out there are overwhelming.”

There are of course forces of hope. Damian Marley (our beautiful cover, shot by the prolific Nabil Elkderkin,) speaks to us about his long standing commitment to the movement for social change; his music - historically dedicated to the cause - his involvement with Last Prisoner Project and Evidence. Evidence, a cannabis brand founded by siblings Dan, Casey and Kelly Dalton whose tag: “We grow weed at a prison to help people get out of prison for growing weed,” describes their cannabis operation on land purchased from an abandoned prison. Proceeds from their products aid efforts to free the 40,000 people still incarcerated on cannabis charges.

With that aim, we invite you into this issue to hear stories from those who lived through the carceral system and from those who are up against it. Until then, we continue the fight coined by The Last Prisoner Project: “Until Every Last Prisoner is Set Free.”

- Ronit Pinto, Publisher

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Creative Director Sam C. Long Editor-At-Large Jaime Lubin Managing Editor Annie Burky Cover Design Billie Haas Feature Spreads Anjali Parmar Contributors Michael Morris Tasnia Choudhury Theara Coleman Lara Dreux Maia McDonald Alexa Nasiedlak Jose Paz Soldan Ian Ward Sophia Rose Nickoloff Warren Kalyn Womack Social Justice James Litkett Shawanna Vaughn Arthur Rambert Advisory Board Bobbi Paley Paul Rosen Dan Fohener Publisher and Founder Ronit Pinto Cover Image Damian Marley © Nabil Elderkin, 2021 Special Thanks to Dan Dalton & Last Prisoner Project @honeysucklemagazine

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WELCOME TO THE STONE AGE 6

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Prepare to embark on an extraordinary journey into cannabis culture. The Stone Age, New York’s premiere immersive, multi-sensory cannabis experience, opens its doors October 1, 2021. It’s the first pop-up of its kind—the intersection of education, artistry, entertainment and advocacy.

Created by experiential gurus Sasha Perelman and Elizabeth Santana, The Stone Age fuses immersive, interactive installations across a 10,000-squarefoot space in the city’s Chelsea District, to provide thoughtful and visceral callsto-action toward social justice reform, as well as education about the plant’s wellness benefits.

“Creating The Stone Age is a dream. After producing programming in the cannabis space, I saw the need to encourage everyone to better understand the efficacy and versatility of cannabis consumption,” Perelman tells Honeysuckle during a behindthe-scenes tour. “Despite all of the aspects that cannabis touches on as plant medicine, as a wellness tool, and as a socio-political catalyst…there’s a lack of normalization, education and awareness. Consumption is still very anecdotal. The information can be overwhelming. So how do we simplify the narrative in a thought-provoking and entertaining way that really resonates with people?”

The answer is by making it fun and provocative, while reaching audiences within their communities. As Perelman and Santana guide us through each room of The Stone Age, they point out unique details. The Arousal activation includes black light-painted murals and bondage ropes, as well as custom video art on screens that simulate the moments before orgasm. Meanwhile, the Creativity activation celebrates cannabis’s impact on the mind, body, and soul with motion-activated projections that respond accordingly to visitors with changing visuals and music. The state of Euphoria redefines the obvious reference of the Stone Age to something energetic and beautiful— much like redefining stoner culture to an elevated lifestyle. The Pain activation addresses the damaging effects of the opioid epidemic and how cannabis can be used as a natural tool for pain management and help with the effects of opioid withdrawal.

Mary Bailey, LPP’s managing director, was all for the concept.

Throughout the walls of the Awareness activation, there are QR codes for visitors to scan to learn more about how to contribute in real time to the fight to free and support the tens of thousands of people incarcerated on cannabis charges. Through the QR codes, attendees can sign petitions, donate and read a comprehensive and provocative treatise on the American carceral system by Natalie Papillon, LPP’s Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Much like consuming cannabis, how The Stone Age affects its audience will differ for each visitor, depending on the experience they want to create for themselves. Yet, what may strike guests the most is the Awareness room, which explores the multilayered human costs of the War on Drugs.

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Art © Adam Fujita + Natasha Platt

PHOTOS © SAM C. LONG

ART© @maya_valentine Maya Sanders

What The Stone Age truly explores are the States of Being, “These are the things we experience collectively as humans,” Perelman explains. “Doing this in New York is very meaningful, not just for helping drive conscious consumerism, but to evoke more conversations around stigmatized topics. We should be empowered, not shamed, to talk about sex, epidemics and most importantly, mass incarceration.”

Perelman and Santana have collectively produced hundreds of events in cannabis, wellness, beauty, technology, and consumer goods. With The Stone Age, they unite their expertise and highlight New York’s sweeping social equity-focused cannabis legalization at the perfect moment. They’ve partnered with a number of locally and nationally recognized organizations in the cannabis community, most notably the restorative justice nonprofit, Last Prisoner Project (LPP), to bring the criminalization of the plant’s role in The War on Drugs to mainstream attention.

“The intention of doing this as a multi-sensory pop-up and bringing it to a mainstream market is that we have the opportunity to reach hundreds of thousands of people in a short time. With the impression that this leaves individuals both through the experience and digital, the ripple effect becomes millions. We have the ability to impact how people perceive and interact with the plant—and that’s powerful,” Santana shares.

Art © Jason Naylor

“We were both very cognizant of creating a sense of empathy [in the space],” says Perelman. “Humanizing the victims of The War on Drugs by showcasing their creativity, their vulnerability and sharing their stories. We recreated the visual reference of a prison so guests can try to comprehend the conditions under which human beings are living. It’s not just about the history of the War on Drugs, but understanding the role it plays in racial injustice.”

“You can give someone information,” Santana adds, “but then what do they do with it? With [The Stone Age], you come in and get transported. You feel a palpable connection to your surroundings, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

We want guests to leave transformed, because that’s where change happens. It’s not just an experience. It’s a call for change! Artwork throughout the Awareness space was created or curated by formerly or currently incarcerated individuals. Poems and visual art pieces amplify the voices of those whose souls run wild, even when the body isn’t free.”

The gift shop also opens pathways to further advocacy. It will feature the original art pieces of the system-impacted

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Botanical Arrangements: Larkspur Botanicals (@larkspurbotanicals)

Mixed Art © Wendy Hu (@visualconductor) + Anna Sibel (@anna_sibel)

individuals for sale (proceeds go directly to individual) and bi-weekly rotating pop-ups of minority or female-owned brands in the sector.

One such spotlight, on women’s wellness brand Her Highness, which includes items from their collaboration with LPP. Ultimately, Santana says, “We’re giving audiences the tools to be able to learn more [after they leave the exhibition], which is very, very important.”

Tickets to The Stone Age are now available (starting at $55 per person for a limited time only).

No cannabis will be distributed or consumed on the exhibition’s grounds. Reservations can be made through thestoneagenyc.com; only individuals age 18+ will be allowed entry. While The Stone Age has launched in New York City, there are plans in place to bring the experience to other cities across the country.

For those excited celebrate a new era of high enlightenment; Welcome to The Stone Age!

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LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE GETS NEW BRANDING Corvain Cooper Turning a Prison Sentence Into a Brand

By Sophia Rose Nickoloff Warren | Photos Emily Eizen The day in 2013 that Corvain Cooper was arrested began as normally as any other. A formerly incarcerated and twice convicted man, Cooper had set out to drop his daughter off at a drill team competition when he was detained by police and charged for conspiracy to sell cannabis across state lines. Though the crime was non-violent, Cooper’s existence was claimed by the Three Strikes law. After this third and final strike, he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

In an exclusive interview with Honeysuckle’s Ronit Pinto and Sam Long, Cooper sat down to discuss the circumstances of his sentence, clemency and a merchandise brand borne from his conviction. After eight years in prison, former United States president Donald Trump granted Cooper clemency. This decision was made so abruptly before President Joe Biden took office that Cooper said it blindsided him. Given only five minutes to pack, Cooper suddenly became a free man. Unlike a pardon, which would give Cooper his freedom in its entirety, he is instead serving 10 years of parole for his crime. Cooper told Pinto and Long that receiving clemency was better, to him, than winning the lottery. He believes that there is a meaningful purpose for his freedom, and he intends to use it well.

Cooper is currently the brand ambassador of 40 Tons, a Black and woman-owned cannabis brand centered around restorative justice, cannabis legalization, rehabilitation and reducing prison sentences.

The brand hosts events such as job fairs for incarcerated people to help them learn how to gain employment post-prison, as well as providing services like suit rental, haircuts, and resume writing.

While in prison, Cooper woke up every morning to a newspaper clipping taped to his bunk regarding the circumstances of his arrest. He said he wanted to turn the grim reality of his prison sentence into a motivational tool of spreading awareness. This constant reminder of his oppression served as Cooper’s inspiration for 40 Tons’s name and mission. He is thankful to 40 Tons and old friend Loriel Alegrete, CEO of the brand, for giving him the platform to share his story in a progressive manner. Cooper began his his work with 40 Tons while still imprisoned; Alegrete concurrently

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supported his efforts from the outside. Alegrete, along with several other people and organizations (including Buried Alive Project, Last Prisoner Project [LPP], Marijuana Matters D.C., Khadijah Tribble [Curaleaf ’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility], criminal justice reform advocate Alice Johnson, and The Weldon Project founder Weldon Angelos), played a large part in Cooper’s clemency through their efforts in contacting the Trump administration.

No longer behind bars, Cooper includes incarcerated people in his daily work. On the board and as a fellowship member of LPP, he hopes to help incarcerated people receive discharges and lead successful lives post-prison. Specifically, Cooper criticizes the harsh sentences given to those with cannabis-related charges. He ruminates on the system of placing a heavier charge on a person who is in possession of a lot of cannabis than someone in possession of little, which he finds unfair. Neither person is clearly more or less harmful than the other, yet the former still bears the brunt of the punishment. As a victim of the War on Drugs, Cooper believes that paying formerly incarcerated people who served cannabis-related sentences would be one step toward “forty acres and a mule,” a term analogous with reparations for U.S. chattel slavery. In 1865, Union General William T. Sherman promised some formerly enslaved families 40 acres of land to ease reconstruction. While the addition of a mule would come later, neither vow was fulfilled. An advocate for recreational cannabis usage, Cooper waits for the day that he is no longer on parole so he may smoke again and help 40 Tons develop a cannabis strain.

Cooper opened up about his life sentence, which he corrected to death sentence, as he believes that the punishment is equivalent to stealing an individual’s life along with all hope for rehabilitation.

While in prison, changes in California law reduced Cooper’s prior drug convictions from felonies to misdemeanors, though a North Carolinian federal court refused to reduce the length of his sentence.

“The industry was created off the culture,” says Cooper of the cannabis industry in response to whether the war on drugs is a result of racism or capitalism. He emphasizes the high rate at which Black and brown people are charged for cannabis-related crimes. Even though Black and brown people are the heart of the industry, they are forced to live out their prison sentences despite changing laws and a growing cannabis culture. “We were the first advertisers. We were the first promoters.”

When asked how Cooper came to accept his sentence, he confided that he never did. He is firm in his belief that incarcerated people who accept their life sentences are throwing away their lives.

“Now you have inhaled your life sentence; now you’re wearing it,” he said. To avoid falling into that mindset, Cooper maintained a relationship with his family while in prison. He described this relationship as keeping a presence in his home through the minds of his children. Corvain hoped to one day see them outside the barred windows.

In the end, what once felt impossible became Cooper’s reality upon release. He was able to hold his children in his arms and taste his mother’s cooking, which he so badly craved while imprisoned. Before being released, Cooper gave away much of his belongings to fellow incarcerated people, leaving them with the inspirational proverb, “walk by faith, not by sight.” With so much life and freedom ahead of him, Cooper is hoping to receive justice in the form of a pardon in order to travel, work to his full potential and live his life to the fullest.

Corvain Cooper is accepting donations to his GoFundMe and Cashapp ($corvaincooper40tons) in order to gain the funds necessary to continue spreading his story.

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Loriel Alegrete 12 honeysucklemag.com

By Maia McDonald | Photos Emily Eizen Loriel Alegrete is the CEO of the Black, woman-owned Los Angeles organization 40 Tons, a social impact cannabis brand focused on restorative justice, cannabis legalization, rehabilitation and reduced sentencing.

Part of the inspiration behind 40 Tons comes directly from Alegrete’s experiences with her loved ones being incarcerated, specifically her husband Anthony Alegrete and close friend Corvain Cooper. Both Alegrete and Cooper were sentenced on marijuana-related charges. 40 Tons was established to both support and represent those impacted by the system—cannabis prisoners, victims of the War on Drugs, as well as their loved ones.

It is currently estimated that approximately 80-90% of the US cannabis industry is run by white owners, making Alegrete one of the few Black people at an executive level within the industry.

CEO OF SOCIAL IMPACT

HONEYSUCKLE MAGAZINE: The cannabis industry is primarily white-owned while Black Americans are far more likely to be convicted on a cannabis charge. How has this reality affected you as one of the few Black owners in the country?

LORIEL ALEGRETE: I know the cards are sort of stacked

against us in this industry, but I felt that I needed to make my own seat at the table. No one was just gonna give it to me, right? That’s exactly what I did with 40 Tons. I had to make sure we were represented as Black and brown people in the industry. Not just as a Black female, but also representing the mothers and the daughters and the wives that are left behind when their loved ones are incarcerated, so the injustice behind that, too.

I want people to support 40 Tons, not because I am a Black female-owned business cannabis brand, but because it is a good business. I’m doing good work, I’m bringing awareness to these causes and I have a voice.

We are capable of bringing a premium cannabis product to market. I’m proud that I am a Black business owner of this brand. Hopefully, this shows [others that] this is what true social equity looks like.

What motivated you when people you love were in prison and you were developing the brand?

Just to go back a little further, when my husband, Anthony, was incarcerated, I had to be the strongest I had ever been before because we have three children. I would say my children have been and continue to be the motivating factor for me in keeping going in this industry or just keeping afloat. My brother is still incarcerated.

It was heavy for me.

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What have been some of the most rewarding parts of your work?

The most rewarding, so far, is having Corvain Cooper come home.

That was an amazing feeling because he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. To have that happen and be a part of that was, still is, really surreal. Even today, he’s been out 57 days or something like that. That has been very, very rewarding. It just goes to show that when you speak up, things can change.

Using clothing is a unique and efficient method of fighting cannabis-related injustice. How did the idea to develop a company like this come to you?

Selling clothing and accessories didn’t require much red tape, obviously, so we’re starting with that. We want to build a culture behind our brand and that’s where Corvain and I came together.

Corvain has always been this fashion-forward guy that was always doing these crazy things, whether with his car or his clothes.

So, I knew that we would have a good marriage there, where we could build. I also studied fashion at [the] Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, which is in downtown LA. So, it was a no-brainer for us to put our heads together and do something that was fashion connected. This is our way to tell our story and have people support us.

You and Corvain were working together while he was incarcerated?

Building the brand while he was in prison was difficult because he was far away and phone calls were not planned. There were always lockdowns which meant phone calls ceased. When I was under the

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deadline to get x, y, and z done and I hadn’t communicated with him, he had to trust that I would pick the best path for us. We always stayed in contact. He was at my wedding, he was at the hospital when I gave birth. We’ve always been this extended family.

What would you say has been the most transformative experience with the work you do?

The most transformative event in my life was when I witnessed Anthony and Corvain getting charged with the same crime and Corvain being sentenced to life without parole and Anthony not getting that same sentence.

I had an “aha” moment where it was — I knew something had to change. It was not fair at all. I could only think “it’s gotta be the race.” Never mind Anthony’s accolades, Corvain’s accolades, what else could it be? It just resonated with me; I had to do something.

Your website detailed the process of acquiring clemency for Corvain specifically. What was that process like?

I know there’s a lot of negativity surrounding Trump throughout his presidency, but it was a situation where one plus one plus one equals ten. So many organizations and people rallied together for Corvain’s cause and his girls — he has two children. We’re talking well over a decade ago when he got arrested and sentenced; now, we’re talking about a plant that is now legal. It was bringing that awareness and that attention to the White House. [It was] on Trump’s last day in office when he gave Corvain presidential clemency.

What are your hopes for the future of legislation and cannabis?

I’m hopeful that the plant will be federally legalized soon.

It’s not just [about] legalization but also bringing real, restorative justice to our brothers and sisters that are locked up over this planet — many who are Black and brown, unfortunately. We just have to correct these injustices. If we make the plant legal, it’s only fair that we have to fix the justice system as it relates to cannabis.

How do you hope to empower other Black women in the cannabis industry?

By showing them that no matter what obstacles are put in front of them, they can do anything. Black women have this inner strength. Most people don’t see it from the outside, they usually just see the color black. But I like to call it this Black Girl Magic about us. It’s enticing and it’s contagious.

It’s about mindset, your network becomes your net worth.

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Michael Thompson was arrested 3 miles from his house, and imprisoned for 25 years for 3 pounds of weed.

Michael Thompson Speaks

Interview & Photos: Ronit Pinto & Sam Long Written By: Kalyn Womack “We’re living in a world of lies, and nobody’s telling you the truth,” said Michael Thompson. At age 69, Thompson was released from prison in January after serving 25 years of a 60year sentence for selling a drug he never used once in his life: marijuana. He holds the distinction of being one of the longestserving cannabis prisoners in United States history, but now he is free to tell his story.

Sitting down with Honeysuckle at his new home in Burton, Michigan, Thompson spoke about the injustice and racial bias in the American criminal justice system and how it led to him spending a quarter-century behind bars. Originally from Oxford, Mississippi, Michael’s early life was similar to many teenagers of his day. He played sports in high school, joined the military, and got a local job. He soon grew into an entrepreneur owning his own car shop and selling cars, running a pool hall drawing some of the best players, and then graduated to concert promotions for artists including Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle.

Throughout Thompson’s life, he witnessed the War on Drugs evolve into a mass incarceration epidemic on the Black community. By the 1990s, Bill Clinton had continued Richard Nixon’s initiative to incriminate drug users and sellers. Cannabis, being one of the most popular and used drugs, brought many people into prison, including Michael Thompson.

On the surface, it seemed like a way to better the welfare of the country. Underneath were intentions to incarcerate masses of Black people. While drugs ran rampant in Black communities and families suffered from the result of addictions, the government decided to punish the victims instead of rehabilitating them.

Thompson was arrested for selling a mere three pounds of weed to an undercover police informant. However, his sentence was determined by a few additional laws that were meant to put people in prison and keep them there. The “three-strikes”

25 YEARS + 3 MILES 2 FREEDOM law put a limit on how many times you could be sentenced until you were forced to serve life without parole for violent crimes.

Mandatory minimums forced prisoners to serve a given number of their sentences. Finally, the unwritten practice of stacking charges caused people to serve time for all crimes they were charged with at once.

In Thompson’s case, the “three strikes” applied simultaneously, as he fell victim to the stacking scheme. After authorities caught him selling cannabis, a search revealed guns on his property (one legally owned and one antique) and labeled him as violent. Based on that, the state of Michigan sent him away for the rest of his adult life. Michael believes the “three strikes” rule for prisoners should be abolished. “That’s only for people of color. You don’t never see white guys get that. That’s the silent killer. That’s the new white robe.”

“I never looked at cannabis as a bad drug,” Thompson adds.

“I’m still wondering today why they got so many people in prison for cannabis, and marijuana ain’t killed nobody.”

With the recent push for cannabis legalization across the country, more organizations like Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit dedicated to restorative justice founded by cannabis pioneers Steve and Andrew DeAngelo, have been advocating for people imprisoned for marijuana charges in states where the plant is now legal. Thompson was still in prison for an extra two years after Michigan voted to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2018, and cannabis is nearly a billion-dollar industry today.

Companies have begun capitalizing off cannabis and currently the space is heavily dominated by white people. Not only do Black people continue to suffer in prison for it, but Black entrepreneurs also have a greater disadvantage at growing their cannabis companies because financial resources such as loans and properties are harder to access.

The restorative justice process has been slow; only 20 people were granted commutations and pardons in 2020. The Justice Department’s survey of inmates in state and federal correctional

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facilities totaled over 40,000 people currently imprisoned for marijuana charges as of 2020. Many of those people are incarcerated for holding small amounts of cannabis.

“That ain’t punishment, that’s torture, the way they’re doing it,” said Thompson.

Many people organized on Thompson’s behalf to fight for his freedom, particularly after Tana Ganeva’s 2019 article on him was published in The Intercept. Being that he entered his older age in prison, supporters rallied for Michigan’s government to commute his sentence. 150,000 messages were sent to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office requesting commutation and it was granted to him in 2021.

“Deedee Kirkwood, an activist from Los Angeles, has been and still is a lone soldier on my behalf for the past nine years,” Thompson added. “She has been the orchestrator to all the success I have endured today. As far as the GoFundMe [which raised funds for my release and reentry], Deedee brought in Chelsea Sutula, owner of Sespe Creek Collective dispensary, which collected enough donations to buy my house and car, which was a true blessing.”

Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Montel Williams, Chelsea Handler, and Real Justice PAC founder Shaun King connected with Thompson in an effort to expedite his release. Kim Kardashian even helped pay for his attorney to help get him out of prison while presenting a similar objective on the federal level. Additionally, Thompson acknowledged the cannabis brands Ubaked and Cresco as instrumental in his life since his commutation.

“If it wasn’t for these two cannabis companies,” he commented, “I would not be able to have the platform and opportunity to support my family.”

It is important to note that while Thompson’s sentence was commuted, he was not exonerated, and therefore ineligible for funds that might otherwise have been paid to him under Michigan’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act, which requires the state to pay $50,000 to exonerees for each year they were imprisoned.

Though Thompson was released January 28th, and happily resides at his new home in Burton, he cannot regain the life he

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lost. While in prison he lost his mother, father and only son. Now, he must re-enter a new society and rebuild a life for himself. The Grassroots Law Project, a nonprofit organization that was cofounded by Shaun King, combines grassroots activism with legal expertise to transform racial justice; under King’s direction, the group raised thousands in donations within 24 hours to support Michael’s reentry and contribute to the GoFundMe established

by Kirkwood and Sutula.

Freeing people is one thing, but helping them re-enter society can be difficult. Without that help, many people end up going back to prison. According to Thompson, currently incarcerated people have strong views of those on the outside.

“People in prison, for example, they feel like they’re a burden on the taxpayers, so the citizens don’t care about them. And then they feel because their votes don’t count that the politicians don’t care nothing about them, so they say to themselves, ‘What do we have to lose?’ So, when they get out, they say ‘To hell with y’all and yours.’ Didn’t anybody help them, care about them, that’s their attitude.”

Michael’s story is only one of many who are still incarcerated for marijuana charges and in states where it has become legal.

Eighteen states and Washington, D.C. have legalized adultuse cannabis so far, with thirty-seven overall having legalized medicinal use. Individuals should not be in chains for something that is not a crime. This is why Michael continues to speak and advocate for those who are still in prison. He met a lot of people in prison for federal and state crimes who were given exaggerated sentences.

“Can’t nobody keep me quiet,” Thompson said. “I speak from one heart to another heart, I don’t speak like a politician or a motivational speaker, I’m me. I want to bring awareness to those who give a damn. The citizens don’t know what’s really going on [inside the prison system]. What’s really important is to tell the truth, everybody is running around lying to each other. It seems like people don’t give a damn about the truth anymore.”

Michael holds a greater determination to spread the truth than resentment for how the justice system failed him.

“I believe there’s a reason for every season and I believe God had my back, he always had my back,” said Thompson.

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INTERVIEW: RONIT PINTO WRITTEN BY:JAIME LUBIN B&W PHOTOS (C) NABIL ELDERKIN

“We grow weed at a prison to help people get out of prison for growing weed.” The tagline for Evidence, the disruptive California-based cannabis brand, seems to say it all – their plants are raised and processed on the grounds of a 24-acre property that houses a 77,000-square foot former correctional facility in the city of Coalinga. Their products arrive in genuine police evidence bags (hence the name). Their marketing campaigns, shot by renowned photographer Nabil Elderkin (whose famous works include collaborations with Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Travis Scott, Dua Lipa, and Gary Clark Jr. to name a few), cause a stir among store owners who want cannabis to be rebranded for the “soccer mom” crowd. But beneath Evidence’s unapologetic nature lies a powerful message: The War on Drugs remains strong, and we can’t stop fighting for cannabis justice until every last prisoner is free.

Founded by siblings Casey, Dan and Kelly Dalton, Evidence was born from their family business Ocean Grown Extracts, so named for the first strain Kelly cultivated as a legacy grower in the San Fernando Valley. When California passed its Proposition 64 to legalize adult-use cannabis in 2016, Casey saw an opportunity for Kelly to be licensed and escape the numerous arrests plaguing cultivators who were operating in the state’s grey market. She used her licensing expertise (having owned preschools for 20 years) to scout municipalities and properties amenable to the cannabis industry, finding the perfect setup in Coalinga.

“The city happened to be $3.7 million in debt on the verge of bankruptcy,” Casey recalls. “We presented what we thought may be a mutually beneficial opportunity to help the city and allow us to obtain a license and help them with the local ordinance. I asked if they had any properties available for sale and the city manager laughed and said, ‘We actually have a property with incredible security... We went to lunch and pulled up at this prison.”

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Coalinga previously had had a hard time supporting public services.

The Daltons, along with some family friends, purchased the prison for $4.1 million and immediately took the city out of the red and into the black on Day One, instantly generating 100 jobs for Coalinga residents.

Walking through the abandoned 77,000 square-foot building, which had been forced to close due to overcrowding, the irony was not lost on Casey. She set out to create a brand that would help people understand not only the benefits that the cannabis industry could bring, but also the enormous damage the War on Drugs was causing to marginalized communities.

Partnering with reggae icon Damian Marley, Bob Marley’s youngest son, helped the Daltons gain immediate name recognition for Ocean Grown Extracts. Dan, a longtime music industry executive, has managed Damian for years and knew it was a perfect alignment of purposes.

Early to California’s regulated industry, the Daltons began largescale manufacturing of cannabis oils, tinctures, pre-rolls, vegan gummies and mints. Focusing on science and formulations, the Daltons perfected Ocean Grown’s products to address different ailments such as insomnia, anxiety and pain relief that consumers regularly sought cannabis to treat. They hit the ground running, becoming the first cannabis company in Fresno County to acquire manufacturing and distribution licenses, and the first to get permission for outdoor cultivation. With a dedicated customer base and a great reputation for their sun-grown plants, the family had a recipe for success. But a chance meeting of the minds would bring a new component to their legacy.

In 2019, cannabis industry pioneers Steve and Andrew DeAngelo created Last Prisoner Project (LPP), with the help of Managing Di-

rector Mary Bailey and Executive Director Sarah Gersten - a nonprofit committed to restorative justice and re-entry for the thousands of people still incarcerated and suffering due to the War on Drugs.

Casey and Dan, upon being introduced to Steve, instantly foresaw how such a venture aligned with their own social justice inclinations, and joined LPP as one of the initial seed investors. Dan became an LPP board member, and Damian Marley did as well with his brother Stephen. The match inspired Casey to run with an idea she’d been considering for some time.

Casey hopes that in the near future, Evidence will also be able to offer hands-on apprenticeship for formerly incarcerated people. “The cannabis industry has been scrutinized because the barriers to entry are so high,” she notes. “A lot of people that paved the way do not have the opportunity to participate, and that’s not right… Oftentimes the local regulations will say [you’re] not allowed to work if you’ve had a previous felony, so it’s a double-edged sword… I do think cannabis companies have a responsibility [and] there’s many ways of helping. You don’t have to write a check, but giving people the opportunity to train and learn, or [using] your voice on social media to spread the word… So in addition to expungement, in addition to helping those get out of prison for nonviolent cannabis offenses, there is the re-entry process of helping them get back on their feet.”

“I saw an evidence bag [at our prison site] and it was so fitting… that I thought, wouldn’t it be crazy to sell weed in this bag? Then I spoke to my brothers and said, ‘What if we did a donation to Last Prisoner Project for every bag sold, and it would call attention to the 40,000 people still sitting behind bars.’”

“This is an uphill battle, this whole movement,” Dan comments. “In the cannabis business, you know who the good guys are, who the real guys are. You can see who just wants to make money… When everybody looks back at seeing these brands come and go, these corporations amassing the money, we’re just the people who are going to keep chugging along. We’re joining hands with the people with good intentions who are ready for the marathon and not here for the quick buck.”

Thus Evidence emerged, a phenomenon since its inception. A portion from the proceeds of every Evidence bag of flower sold benefits LPP, and the Daltons’ conscientious approach to cannabis has enabled them to keep prices affordable enough that consumers in any economic bracket can access their products. The industry may be overrun with luxury items, but Evidence will always remind you what got them there.

Evidence works to embody the Daltons’ social justice ethos to the fullest; the promotional images from Nabil Elderkin feature models of color in street clothes, creating realistic portrayals of the average consumer. Yet they’ve drawn negative buzz from big business, to the point that several buyers and stores reject them because they don’t want Evidence’s “gangster aesthetic,” which Casey and Dan say exposes the underlying racism pervading American society.

“We’re in touch with who our customer is,” Casey says, “and that’s the everyday smoker who may not be able to afford that $60 indoor eighth [and] is working a normal job with how hard it is in general just making it right now. We can give them half an ounce at the lowest possible price in most of [the California] market. We hand-selected those strains that have great flavor and high THC level.”

“This is what our customers look like,” Casey asserts. “These are the types of people who smoke every day. So do a lot of the corporate guys, so do a lot of the soccer moms, but… it’s interesting to me that our imagery is now being thrown back up in our face as something that’s bad… It’s definitely intentional for the Evidence bag to make you uncomfortable. And we intentionally have Black and brown people in our campaign.”

Over the past year, Evidence partnered with another huge name in cannabis, the globally-awarded brand Cookies by rapper Berner, to open Fresno County’s first consumption lounge. The grand opening was so eagerly anticipated that customers camped out the night before, and the gorgeous new space features beverages as well as cannabis goods. Other developing enterprises under the Ocean Grown umbrella include the delivery service StashDash, new brands in the snacks and pets categories, and a brick-and-mortar location for social equity resources located in Los Angeles’ Atwater Village.

“Those are the people who are historically the victims of the War on Drugs,” adds Dan, “and most likely to be arrested, most likely to be convicted and jailed. And if it makes you uncomfortable seeing a person like that, then there’s something wrong with you.”

Trust an independent, family-owned business to speak up for what’s right. Amid the stigmas, high costs, and challenges of surviving the cannabis industry, the Daltons will continue to be true to themselves and provide quality products with a message. Come what may, there’s just no tampering with their Evidence.

PLANT/BUD/FARM PHOTOS PHOTOS: BRIANNA OZUNA

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“EVIDENCE IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER CANNABIS BRAND IN THAT IT’S AN UNAPOLOGETIC, DISRUPTOR THAT FORCES PEOPLE TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT WHERE WE HAVE BEEN AS A COUNTRY AND INITIATES THE CONVERSATION ON WHERE WE NEED TO GO.” - DAN DALTON-

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Exterior Farm Photos © Brianna Ozuna & Interior Prison Photos: B+

INSIDE BACK COVER

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WE GROW WEED AT A PRISON TO HELP GET PEOPLE OUT OF PRISON FOR GROWING WEED

@EVIDENCEBAG

WWW.BUYEVIDENCE.COM @honeysucklemagazine

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PHOTOS: NABIL ELDERKIN BY: RONIT PINTO

It’s not every day or ever, really, that you meet someone whose work you can follow for their entire life. Most people crash and burn when they find early stardom, but Damian Marley, it seems, has found a way to always stay ‘slick.’

The youngest prolific son of the Jamaican musical G-d, Bob Marley, Damian’s entire family is prolific, his brothers, sisters, and parents. But to me and most of the Honeysuckle staff, Damian has always stood out.

We saw him perform with his family at Kaya Fest in 2018, the first time in a decade all the Marley siblings had appeared onstage together, and have written about his distinctive place in music in past issues.Yet weaving throughout his entire career, and his natural way of life, is cannabis.

While the Marley Family in general has been lauded for bringing greater awareness to international cannabis consumption through various brands and projects, Damian has struck a particular note for social justice in partnering with the California-based company Ocean Grown Extracts. The family-owned business, co-founded by Damian’s long-time manager Dan Dalton with siblings Casey and Kelly, operates on 24 acres of land in the city of Coalinga, including a 77,000 square-foot facility that was formerly a prison.

“I just think he’s brilliant,” Dan says of Damian. “So well thought out, so talented, an incredible lyricist and producer. I think his approach to music [and cannabis, and life] is so authentic, no bullshit. It’s all for the right reasons. I’ve learned a lot from him.”

In 2019 Ocean Grown launched the brand Evidence, which donates proceeds from each bag of flower sold to the restorative justice nonprofit Last Prisoner Project (LPP).

Damian and Dan both sit on LPP’s advisory board, alongside numerous influencers in the cannabis space such as the organization’s founders Steve and Andrew DeAngelo, actor Jim Belushi, and musician Melissa Etheridge.

After a long public silence during 2020, it seems Damian is now blazing all his fires.

He sat down for a phone chat to discuss his next big moves, which include developing the brand HURB with Dan and global cannabis pioneer Berner, new music that pays homage to Jamaica’s legacy of reggae and dancehall genres, and the many ways that life is a circle.

HONEYSUCKLE MAGAZINE: HOW HAVE YOU BEEN THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC? YOU TOOK A BREAK FROM SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SEVERAL MONTHS.

DAMIAN MARLEY: Yeah, because of lockdown, we are like everyone else basically, taking it easy and I need some time to just be at home and self reflect a bit. Honestly, I’ve been in Miami throughout the whole ordeal, since February of 2020. Which is the first time since I was 17 that I’ve been in one place so long.

But in Jamaica they’ve been having lockdowns where from Saturday until Tuesday, you couldn’t leave your house. And then you’d go out Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then for half of the day Saturday. Then Saturday evening, lockdown again. So they just went through about three to four weekends straight of that; they’ve been having major lockdowns there. And of course, the population isn’t anywhere near as vaccinated or likely to take the vaccine as people here. So in the poorer communities it’s been a little bit rough. We don’t have the facilities that you have here when it comes down to hospital beds and such.

If you’re overwhelmed in America, imagine how it is there. They’re trying to make sure that it doesn’t get out of hand, even though it’s already very taxing… It hasn’t really ripped though the population like how it has here, per se. But at the same time, we can’t afford for that to happen. At one point, there were only 20 ventilators on the entire island.

IS THERE A LOT OF RELIGIOUS OPPOSITION TO THE VACCINES IN JAMAICA? Not necessarily religious. I think it’s overall mistrust, not having trust in our government and leaders. Jamaica is a very politically tribal place, so there’s always been a lot of general mistrust of our politicians. You can even hear it in our music... I guess the world in general is very polarized when it comes down to the vaccine. But Jamaica, for the most part, I would say leans toward being not in support of it in terms of the average citizen.

WHEN I WAS IN JAMAICA YEARS AGO, NEARLY EVERYBODY SMOKED WEED, BUT THE GOVERNMENT WAS VERY CONSERVATIVE AND AGAINST IT. HOW DOES CANNABIS PLAY A PART IN THE CULTURE TODAY - IN WELLNESS, RELIGIOUS PRACTICES, RECREATION AND HEALTH? We’re much more forward thinking now, in line with the rest of the world, or I should say in line with places like California where it’s legal there.

Or maybe the word you’d use is decriminalized.

I would say it’s legal, because you have legal dispensaries where you can buy herb now.

You can smoke recreationally. It’s not so much

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conservative as it once was. And also, the mere fact that America has opened up to it a lot, Jamaica tends to follow that.

Cannabis is something I use throughout my day. It’s part of my daily maintenance.

It’s been a big part of our culture from long before it was anywhere near legal.

Yes, it’s been used as a religious sacrament in terms of the Rasta which I’m a part of. Our faith is very health-conscious; we’ve always been advocates of leaning toward a more vegetable-based diet.

And just taking care of the temple.

When it comes down to cannabis, we as Rastas have always said that the herb is a healing of the nation. What I’m glad to see now is that with it becoming accepted by society, now we can actually start to do more studies on the actual medical part of it, the science of it all. And that has been showing promise. Actually, Jamaica is not the leader in that by any means either.

But even in California and other places where people are getting the chance to do a bit more medical or scientific research on the plants, we get to see that our spiritual inclination was right all along that this plant has great medicinal value.

YOU’VE HISTORICALLY DISCUSSED SOCIAL ISSUES IN YOUR MUSIC. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR WORK WITH LPP AND EVIDENCE. Well, I’m proud to be a part of the movement. Of course we were obvious advocates that this herb should be free for everyone to use to begin with. So if it’s now becoming free for people to use, it’d only be right that the people who are locked up for it now can be released. Ten years ago, we had people who would never be seen anywhere near a cannabis business, or that industry who are now playing a part in it, and are able to earn money from it.

Yet you have the original people who built and maintained this industry over

the years when it was illegal, and a lot of them are still behind bars. All our lives we’re smoking herb. We’re not criminals in any kind of case other than smoking herb. So for us, it’s dear. It’s dear to our hearts. It’s part of our lives, that’s something that we’ve always had to look over our shoulders for, for years, up until now when [it’s becoming] legal.

That’s why the work that LPP is doing, the mission to get people free, whether it be through political clout, helping people with lawyer fees, is very important.

LPP IS DOING WONDERFUL THINGS WITH ITS EXPUNGEMENT AND REENTRY PROGRAMS. HOW DOES THE WORK YOU ARE DOING WITH THE DALTON FAMILY AND EVIDENCE CONTRIBUTE TO THAT? Whenever you purchase a bag of Evidence, some of the proceeds go to LPP. And we as cannabis consumers have a common set of values. You usually find that there’s a lot of social upliftment thoughts that run within cannabis users. So [I encourage] everyone to check out these different projects that we’ve been working on in the cannabis space where it comes down to that. It goes beyond just smoking and having a good time. There’s a lot of good work being done there, so get yourself up to speed.

WHAT ABOUT HURB, YOUR AND DAN’S NEW BRAND WITH BERNER? It’s a collaboration between Berner, Ocean Grown Extracts and myself. So Cookies and our side of the team. And it’s trying to bend both of our cultures and backgrounds in this. Everyone knows what Berner stands for in terms of the cannabis industry. I have my own brand of what I stand for, my culture, and where I come from. So we’re trying to find some new similarities and things that we can work on together in that space, with Berner and me as the curators of this new brand.

WHERE ARE YOU MUSICALLY THESE DAYS? THIS SPRING YOU RELEASED YOUR SINGLE “LIFE IS A CIRCLE,” WHICH REFLECTS THE INTERTWINING LEGACIES OF RACIAL POLITICS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH THE STORY OF VIRGINIA KEY, MIAMI’S FIRST BLACK-ONLY BEACH. WHAT’S NEXT? I’ve been in the studio a lot during the pandemic. Over the last year and a half, I’ve been spending a lot of time listening.

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PHOTOS AT EVIDENCE: B+

And you cannot listen if you are speaking, you know what I mean? So I need to center myself and figure out what I want to speak about, and formulate my own opinions about what’s going on. We were speaking about the pandemic; there’s so much information, or misinformation, however you want to see it, out there...

I want to be responsible. I don’t want to influence people on something I don’t know about, or I’m not informed about.

However, I have been working on music in the meantime. I have some singles I’m about to release, and hopefully next year we can see a feature length project, all being well. [Right now] I’m sketching out ideas individually. I have a few songs that are love songs, spiritual songs, I have a few songs that are more rebellious.

In terms of a Marley Family group project, we have intentions to want to do that.

We’d like to do a Marley Brothers project one day, a full body of work together.

HOW IS YOUR KING OF KINGSTON PROJECT DEVELOPING WITH BOUNTY KILLER? Yeah, that’s still in process. It’s in the works.

WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO TALK ABOUT HOW FATHERHOOD HAS INFLUENCED YOU? It’s had a big impact on my life. The responsibility of being a father is huge.

I was saying to someone the other day that it makes you really have a different perspective on the whole mortality, at least it did for me. I realize now too that I’ve always been aware of myself being an influence on young people. But when I have someone who’s looking up to me as his superhero directly, who looks like me, it becomes even more sensitive. So I have to be conscious of what I say. In my music, and just even in my normal conversations, especially when he’s listening. It makes you want to ensure that you have some kind of security for your child. You look at things wanting to make sure you set a foundation that your child can come and build upon.

up seeing my bigger brothers and sisters doing music, and looking up to them as my bigger brothers also. But when it came down to me personally being inspired to want to do music, that’s from watching a lot of the 1980s dancehall stars, Shabba Ranks, and Super Cat, and Tiger, and Peter Metro.

When I make music, it’s really just trying to make a song that I like to listen to and that shares my values too. So as long as I’m being true to myself on a song, both in the fact that I like the music and that what I’m saying on the song is also true to myself and my values, then that’s really where it starts. And then the rest of it, well you figure out as you go along.

IS THE MUSIC OF THE GENERATION THAT INSPIRED YOU BEING PRESERVED? When I make music, it’s really just trying to make a song that I like to listen to and that shares my values too. So as long as I’m being true to myself on a song, both in the fact that I like the music and that what I’m saying on the song is also true to myself and my values, then that’s really where it starts. And then the rest of it, well you figure out as you go along.

WOULD YOU SAY THE RASTAFARI FAITH IS STILL VERY PRESENT IN REGGAE TODAY? It’s still very strong. At the moment, I would say maybe our voices aren’t as loud in the music industry as it may have been ten years ago, or whatever the case may be. Music tends to be a cycle like that anyhow. But the faith is still very strong.

We credit the Most High for all inspiration.

However it manifests itself through life, we still credit the Most High for all inspiration.

But I’m not over here trying to say I’m some kind of chosen one or something like that. I’m just playing my part by being me.

BEING FROM THIS LEGENDARY FAMILY OF MUSICIANS, WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS YOUR PLACE IN THAT LEGACY? Oh, I couldn’t tell you. When I make music, I don’t think about too much that I’m my father’s son. Although as a little boy, I used to always pretend to be my father on stage every night before going to bed… I grew

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ERNER

Photos: Nabil Elderkin By: Ronit Pinto

I heard Berner didn’t do interviews, so I was very honored when he decided to give one to us. The infamous rapper and cannabis entrepreneur (born Gilbert Anthony Milam Jr.) is a mysterious presence.

A former graffiti artist, musician, family man, and businessman, few people can pull off being a mononym, but Berner can.

Rumor has it that he was offered over $800 million for his infamous cannabis brand Cookies, and he turned it down. One of the most globally respected brands on the market, Cookies was established

by Berner and his cultivation partner Jai in 2008, and it’s been revolutionary for legitimizing the cannabis industry ever since. The company just celebrated a significant milestone, opening its first American consumption lounge in California through a partnership with cannabis brand Evidence, founded by the Dalton family, and reggae icon Damian Marley.

Today Cookies offers a collection of over 150 proprietary cannabis varieties and product lines, everything from flower and vapes to CBD and medicinal mushrooms. Well known for its California success, where it has opened numerous dispensaries, Cookies has expanded operations in recent years to enter markets in other regions across the nation and the world. This summer, the juggernaut announced its first steps into the East Coast by partnering with TerrAscend to open New Jersey stores, and a collaboration with Gage Growth Corp. to operate in Canada.

Under Berner’s directive, Cookies actively works to enrich communities disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs. Its social equity program partners with local organizations such as The Hood Incubator to prioritize economic development, business training and justice reform to reverse Prohibition’s harmful effects on the Black community. Additionally, the brand is known for large-scale collaborations with other legendary artists focused on social justice, including a special social impact collection from Snoop Dogg called The Doggy Bagg. Berner maintains close relationships with friends such as Wiz Khalifa and other musicians, who were featured in his 2011 music video “Yoko,” where the Cookies clothing line debuted for the first time.

Berner is special, spiritual even. He speaks about energy, vibes, and connection. The mogul, whose favorite Cookies strain is London Pound Cake, was everything we’d hoped that he would be. An open, friendly, down to earth person, who -- well, you kinda want to ‘bern’ one with.

HONEYSUCKLE MAGAZINE: When was the first time you called yourself Berner?

BERNER:

I got the name Berner in my early high school days when I was

doing graffiti in San Francisco. I would smoke these joints with crazy hash in it. And the hash would kind of drip out the joint and just burn holes in my clothes.

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Do you still do art?

I just practice my one flow and I’ve practiced little styles. I was never a big muralist. I just would just do quick little throw ups every here and there. So yeah, on pencil and paper, I do it.

You've had a supportive relationship with the Last Prisoner Project. We understand you helped Richard DeLisi's son while his father was incarcerated 31 years for nonviolent cannabis crimes.

I support everything the Last Prisoner Project does. They’re doing things that need to be done, and prison reform is super important.

Taking care of people that have been accused or have been incarcerated for cannabis, should be a number one priority for people like myself in the business.

Have you found it challenging to convince people of that or get some of the more affluent business people on board to care? What would you recommend to other operators?

I focus on what we can do. I can’t really persuade or influence people to do what’s best, but I just know that Cookies and myself in general are trying to do the best we can.

I’d encourage other operators out there who are positioned like us, or in a bigger position than us, to share their platform with minorities; share their platform with people who have been done wrong by the system, and who have been advocating for cannabis legalization for a long time.

When Richard DeLisi was released from prison, the first thing I did, besides help put a little money in his pocket, was sit down with him and figure out a way to build a brand and put him in the game.

We’re constantly empowering - not only minorities and social equity empowerment groups with our platform - but we’re empowering people that deserve to be empowered. Imagine 32 years of prison for this plant.

I’m glad that we stepped up to the plate to give him a platform and a home for him to be in the business legally. So I just want to encourage other operators to take some of their access to their platform and share it with others that really deserve it. That’s the most important thing to me right now.

Tell us about your new project HURB, with Damian Marley.

The brand’s special; I had the chance to go out to Jamaica with Damian and Dan (Evidence co-founder) and experience it in a whole different way than I ever have. I’ve been there before. And just understanding how important herb is to the culture out there and how much it actually benefits the world. We’re just collaborating on bringing an incredible venue experience to the table and thinking outside the box when it comes to the markets that we want to enter into.

In Jamaica, we went to Nine Mile to see Bob Marley’s area and where his body is. It was a very pure experience. We cooked food with the locals and we smoked together and shared stories. It was very special.

It was actually on the anniversary of my mom passing and I felt a weird vibe the whole day, just I was feeling down and kind of lost, in a

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Do you find cannabis provides a spiritual outlet for you?

I believe in the universe, I believe in the soul and I believe in the soul is a lot stronger than we actually really ever acknowledged. I believe there’s so much more to life than we understand. And so, I just embrace it. That things happen for a reason. We’re in a very powerful place as far as energy.

Do you think plant medicine helps people get in touch with that energy?

I think plant medicine brings people together, and it maybe opens up your mind a little more. We need to be there for eachother in general. It unifies people all around the world. I love that. The cannabis business gets hard and frustrating, and really cutthroat at times. But what the plant actually does for people holistically, is why I’m still in it. It’s always going to be a medicine to me, no matter how recreational it becomes.

You recently opened the first Cookies U.S. consumption lounge with Evidence in Coalinga, California. What was it like for you to consume at your first U.S. lounge?

BERNER

weird mood. And as soon as we got up on the mountain, the vibe changed for the better for me. It was really cool, and very spiritual.

I met Dan through a mutual friend, and found we share a similar vision and vibe. Not just in building a partnership and a brand, but also his passion for the space, for what he does with Evidence (which operates on the grounds of a prison,) what he does at Last Prisoner Project, and what he’s doing with Damian was super attractive to us. It made all the sense in the world to do something big, not just something regular, like a strain or something.

We want to build something special.

I bought a really, really, really big joint. I put some hash in it and I sat down and I smoked it all to the head. This being our first consumption lounge in the U.S., I really wanted to take the time to enjoy the sounds by Scoop DeVille, the beautiful atmosphere, the weed and just relax. And it felt great.

What do you love most about being in the cannabis space?

What I like most about the cannabis industry is that it really truly brings people together. And I was able to build something special that’s acknowledged all around the world. As I sit here on my tour bus riding down the I-5, I hear people honking and screaming out my name and the brand name. And to me, that’s just dope, to bring people together and spread positivity and good energy and build something special that will never come back around again, because we’re in a very unique time. So bringing people together, putting our genetics all around the world, sharing some of the best weed in the world with people all around the world, it’s a true blessing.

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What would you like to see change in the industry?

As far as what I don’t like about the industry or challenges, taxes are a major challenge. I think California really needs to take a second look at the way that things are being taxed. They need to make it fair so we can make the prices a lot more fair for the consumer. And I really don’t like this competitive cutthroat, edgy energy within the industry about brands and, and who’s next, and who’s the biggest brand. I think people should focus on doing the best they can instead of worrying about the next man. A lot of competitive vibes out there, and it’s not really the way cannabis is here to help people. It’s here to bring people together. Some of the more cutthroat and competitive attitudes out there are overwhelming. And I think that we could really work on that as an industry together and just focus on doing the best we can and letting our work talk for ourselves.

What are the biggest distinctions between Jamaican ganja and U.S. weed?

Mostly the way it is grown. One of the programs we want to do is give some of the farmers in Jamaica growing tips on weed that we’ve learned out here in California, as far as outdoor cultivation, curing the flower when it’s done, planting schedules, et cetera. We plan to try to compliment what they’ve been doing there for a long time and put some really cool genetics in their hands as well.

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Photo © Giaccobazzi Yanez

What Incarceration Stole, Last Prisoner Project is Returning

By Annie Burky When Stephanie Shepard was given a decade-long sentence for conspiracy to distribute cannabis, her 91-year-old father told her he didn’t have a decade. When Evelyn LaChapelle was offered a plea bargain for eight years instead of 24, she added the number to her daughter’s age— 12 or 28—and chose the security of time.

Funerals, birthdays, dinners and the things time touches are what Shepard and LaChapelle lost to the War on Drugs. Shepard was allowed to attend her father’s funeral but not his deathbed.

LaChapelle missed her daughter passing through the tiny miracles of elementary school. Neither Shepard nor LaChapelle are asking for something that cannot be returned; they are asking for respect in all its forms.

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As Community Engagement Manager and Development Associate for the Last Prisoner Project respectively, LaChapelle and Shepard are ensuring that a little more dignity is offered to those leaving prison. LPP with its expungement and clemency support, post-incarceration grants, internships and employment opportunities is helping those incarcerated for a plant that now fuels a billion-dollar legal industry get out, stay out and re-educate the public in the process.

“You feel out of place when you first get out of prison but I go to work with people that respect me and I respect them back,” Shepard said. “The chipping away at the industry and policy—that’s just something we’re going to have to keep doing.”

The Last Prisoner Project (LPP), was born out of what its founder, “Father of the Legal Cannabis Industry,” Steve DeAngelo calls the outrage of the current state of cannabis. Since the organization’s creation in 2019, the industry has expanded as those convicted decades ago remain in prison. While cannabis convictions have begun to wane as legalization waxes, LPP estimates 40,000 prisoners are still waiting on clemency or release.

“People who have been convicted on cannabis charges aren’t criminals, they’re victims of the War on Drugs,” DeAngelo said. “All the messaging they’ve received for years as they’ve gone through the criminal justice system has been that they’re bad people. They force you to abase yourself.”

Here is the crux of what causes DeAngelo’s outrage towards cannabis in America—race has no reflection on how likely a person is to use drugs, and yet, Black Americans are four times more likely to be arrested on cannabis charges than white Americans, while 90 percent of cannabis CEOs are white.

LPP is directly addressing this blatant marginalization through intervention, advocacy, and awareness. To do so, DeAngelo and his brother Andrew, the organization’s co-founder, have recruited an expert leadership team headed by Managing Director Mary Bailey, Executive Director Sarah Gersten, and Director of Strategic Initiatives Natalie Papillion, whose critical study on the American carceral system is required reading for those seeking to understand restorative justice.

“On the federal level, LPP is working diligently to improve the restorative justice provisions in the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act,” said Natalie Papillion. “We have found that the legislation’s retroactive relief efforts needlessly restrict expungement and resentencing to a fraction of people currently burdened by nonviolent federal cannabis convictions.”

Upon release from prison, Shepard and LaChapelle were sent to halfway houses where they were expected to find work within two weeks. Once found, up to a quarter of their income would be paid to the house for living expenses. As LPP’s Community Engagement Manager and Reentry Coordinator, LaChapelle now advocates for a new program to cushion the fall out of prison.

Corvain Cooper, a current ambassador for the cannabis social impact brand 40 Tons, was one of the first to receive an LPP reentry grant. After completing eight years of a life sentence for distributing cannabis, the organization co-sponsored his executive clemency, granted in January 2021. With the $5,000 provided by the grant, he was able to spend two weeks at an Airbnb with the daughters he had only known from within the confines of prison.

LaChapelle and Shepard advocated for this time that funds provide—time to adjust, time to reassess, time to become acquainted with a new world.

“Coming out of prison for so long and seeing dispensaries and seeing billboards, now it’s glamorous, for us it was ugly,” Shepard said. “But now, ten years later, it’s the sexiest thing going.”

Upon release, LPP facilitates expungement in order to create something closer to a fresh start. Even after LaChapelle found a job, the security didn’t last long when a fellow employee shared an article about her trial and she was let go. She thinks if she would have had a reentry grant, things could have been different. “With the grant, you have the freedom to not be a beggar.”

If you are lucky enough to be informed about LPP’s mission, receive clemency, a reentry grant and an expungement (most are partial), there is still a forest of employment restrictions. While it is categorically illegal for an employer to advertise a blanket

ban like “felons need not apply,” that does not ensure employers are willing to muddle through the convoluted state and federal policies regarding cannabis convictions.

The organization works to educate cannabis companies that just because someone may have a felony or misdemeanor cannabis offense on their record, that doesn’t mean they have to be shut out of the industry.

“There is a lot of policy written that would have felons excluded from the cannabis industry,” LaChapelle said. “When already the door isn’t wide open because you’re Black and brown, then you’re a felon, it’s a narrow space to squeeze into.”

Shepard, who is also on the organization’s advisory board, coordinates LPP’s Roll it Up for Justice program to address this inequality. Through collaboration with over 300 cannabis shops, customers are encouraged to round up their purchases to support grants to former convicts. LPP boasts a total of $600,000 in grants already awarded, with more in the works. While these funds also come from wealthy donors within and without the industry, many customers contribute as well.

“Customers need to understand the privilege they have when they walk into a dispensary and not get arrested,” Shepard said.

“They can walk in, get what they want and leave.”

Shepard says most people stepping into a cannabis shop are aware of this privilege, but good intentions are not enough.

Both women talk about cannabis executives shaking their hands at high-brow events, apologizing for what they “went through,” asking them to share their story and then closing the door behind them.

“We get invites to these industry things where they say ‘We want to honor you’ and we’re smiling and we’re cheesing, but the truth is when the events are over, I’m not eating off of this industry,” Shepard said. “They’ve given us a piece of notoriety and fame but not a piece of the pie, not a piece of the wealth.”

DeAngelo believes that most people in power within the industry want to help, but when they see the current labyrinth of policy, they throw up their hands. The LPP leadership team has worked to ensure that they do the heavy lifting, providing companies with direct venues for support along with guidance on how to hire those who already have experience in the industry, just before it was legal.

“There are many ways that the cannabis industry can support cannabis prisoners who paved the way for cannabis legalization,” said LPP’s Managing Director Mary Bailey. “This is especially important for cannabis companies who offer ancillary services such as HR, tech or marketing since there is much less red tape for employees who are still on supervised release, probation or parole, and therefore not legally eligible to work in plant-touching jobs.”

DeAngelo says that one of the reasons for starting LPP was his unique placement within the industry. He spent the first 25 years of his career in the underground market, shuttling the plant in and out of New York. In his fourth decade, he purchased his first legal right to sell the plant in California. As he gained status within the industry, his voice was no longer falling on deaf ears.

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In connecting the two eras of cannabis, he uses this voice to “provide a professionally managed opportunity for cannabis companies to do the right thing.”

It wasn’t just in boardrooms where DeAngelo saw this unmet need. When he was welcomed into discussions regarding California legalization and decriminalization, he realized that the first thing to be cut in across the aisle negotiations was resentencing. So LPP pivoted beyond direct services to building out a state and federal policy arm.

For those pushed into the abyss that cannabis policy created, the damage is irreparable. Shepard and LaChapelle agree that not a day goes by when their convictions aren’t at the center of their world. If Shepard isn’t playing catch up with her career, she’s being reminded of her father and the time they lost. If LaChapelle isn’t working as a waitress at night, she’s ruminating over how her daughter was affected by her absence. Both women say they find solace in working with LPP and making room for those convicted to be treated like complex humans, but, LaChapelle adds, they can never forget what was lost.

“That part of my life took so much from me, that to ignore that part of my life would be to ignore my experience, ignore the people that I lost, ignore the time that my child didn’t have a mother. There aren’t many moments that aren’t a reflection of what I lost.”

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LEGACY 420 : INDIGENOUS HEALING THROUGH CANNABIS

By Annie Burky

Before he opened the retail brand Legacy 420 in 2015, Tim Barnhart of Ontario’s Mohawk tribe knew his rights. The walls of Legacy 420, the first cannabis shop on the Mohawk reservation, Tyendinaga, were strong. As Canada’s Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) became law in 2018, he was ready with a fortress built of paper, concrete and legalese.

For two years, Barnhart’s was the reservation’s only shop. Tribal leaders grumbled about what they saw as a lightning rod drawing in federal and provincial authorities. In 2017, Barnhart wasn’t surprised to find off-reservation police at his door. He handed over everything with one ask—that they go to the federal, not provincial, authorities.

According to the Indian Act of 1876, the federal authorities maintain jurisdiction over tribal taxation, commerce and criminal law. They would then only have to determine if the plant was harming Indigenous populations. However, under C-45, provincial governments charged with managing cannabis could decide that without a provincial license the shop was illegal.

Without said license, Barnhart was relying solely on tribal sovereignty to stake his claim. And the powers-at-be acquiesced.

Today, the Tyendinaga reservation with its 2500 residents holds 47 cannabis shops. Legacy 420 maintains its claim to tribal sovereignty by being vertically integrated; everything, every gummy and bud and salve is made with First Nations’ products. Legacy 420 and the nearly 50 stores reside within a legal grey area between federal, provincial and tribal law—an area that has historically favored white colonizers. But Barnhart feels his people have a shot at gaining financial independence from the patriarchal state and healing from the anguish it wrought.

“They might just leave us alone because of the state of the economy,” Barnhart said. “That might give us the leeway we need to negotiate.

On Tyendinaga, there are anywhere from 350 to 500 people actively employed through various cannabis entities. So, if you’re laying off 350 to 500 people who are making very good money, that would rain hell down on Tyendinaga and Canada.”

While he waits to see what Canada’s next move is, Barnhart thinks cannabis can be a balm against centuries of trauma. Pointing to a study he conducted of 1200 Indigenous participants which questioned the reason for their usage of the plant, 98% of respondents mentioned its medical efficacy. Benefits like decreased stress and inhibition as the most common responses have convinced Barnhart that inadvertent selfmedication is taking place; “People who don’t realize this is medical are getting a medical benefit from the plant anyway.”

Barnhart emphasizes that Indigenous trauma is not relegated to the past; many living on Tyendinaga today were forced into boarding schools where indignities were myriad: Rampant sexual assault at the hands of Christian clergy; cutting of traditional braids; children beaten for speaking their mother tongue. Just this year, mass graves were found

behind Canadian residential schools. Families had passed down stories of loved ones disappearing or running away from the state-mandated institutions when, in actuality, they were being slowly starved to death.

As boarding schools were phased out, Indigenous children were pulled from their homes by child welfare in what was called “the ‘60s scoop.”

Then followed mandated day schools, currently a class-action lawsuit.

These children, now in middle to old age, were kept away from family, tradition and culture until fear created a void between the past and present. They also happen to be Barnhart’s prime customers.

Legacy 420’s website advertises over 500 products with a chat feature allowing customers to ask for self-medication support. Barnhart first began with nearly all THC products, but now offers 40% CBD. His core demographic is 50-75 year-olds, many of whom take advantage of Legacy 420’s senior discount program.

When tribal peers express hesitation about cannabis, Barnhart uses his own healing as an example. The plant helped pull him away from heavy drinking in the 1970s. Later, it helped him kick a nasty opioid addiction following a hip injury.

Observing the rise of opiates, Barnhart proposed a buy-back program to the tribal elders and reservation law enforcement after pill-peddling drug companies made fast work of Indigenous populations. His proposal was denied. Instead, he went to nearby Loyalist College to develop a two-week intensive cannabis training for first responders.

In addition to these ancillary programs, he feels the Mohawk people’s best support is his carefully cultivated cannabis.

“Under [Bill C-45], you are regulated to put pesticides, herbicides, fungicides on your plant and radiated in the end,” Barnhart said.

“Our people don’t think that’s medicine. That’s poison, and that’s how we’ve always looked at it.”

To protect both people and land, Legacy 420 only uses organic, no-till practices, allowing word of cannabis to spread. Their nation-to-nation wholesale has expanded exponentially, tying together First Nations throughout Canada. But an increase in sales denotes a corresponding potential for taxes, leaving Barnhart with one eye on the horizon.

“It’s always been my wish to see us raising our own revenue, to basically get rid of any responsibility that the province thinks they have over our people,” Barnhart said. “And I think cannabis sales could give us the revenue to replace the provincial government.”

Barnhart currently has two lawsuits against the government regarding water rights and taxation. The former addresses the pollution of a Tyendinaga well. In the latter, he claims the government unlawfully taxed him on wholesale cigar purchases, something he sees as a precursor to a potential cannabis battle, one he is preparing for. He urges all residents in Canada and the U.S. to better know their rights, “because you get trampled if you don’t.”

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LOUD. FUN. HIGH. In its first iteration, since COVID, Honeysuckle was on the scene at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the debut of UPROAR Hip-Hop Festival, the beginning of a new live concert series (with some virtual tickets available for additional pandemic safety) featuring Weezy, the cohort of talented artists he's mentoring, and very special guests. The past year and a half's dearth of live performances or major crowd events, we have lost some of the natural electricity that sparks from human connection. When all the right factors coincide - creativity, ardor, synergistic harmony - the result is a transcendence of the soul.

Organized in partnership with the team from GKUA Ultra Premium, Lil Wayne's high-quality cannabis brand, UPROAR stayed true to its name.

PHOTOS © SAM C. LONG

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"Photography isn't something I do, it's who I am." Jordan Pope @joztakethosee

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"My pictures speak a thousand words" Lynese Harkless @shot_by_nee

“Gkua Inspired is the brand’s passion project. Our goal with Gkua Inspired is to spotlight artists from different disciplines and provide them with platforms. This mission is rooted in our belief that cannabis facilitates creativity and has been part of GKUA since the beginning. Having launched our brand just before the pandemic, this is our first big event where we’ve been able to really put those ideas into action…so yeah, it’s our first not our last.

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In terms of themes, freedom just seemed like the obvious way to go. I mean, no matter who you are or where you are in the world…chances are that your feelings of freedom have diminished over the past year and half. We’ve been missing many of the freedoms we took for granted and we’ve been collectively reminded that freedom is something we have to fight for— socially and politically, of course…but personally it’s something we have to cultivate as well. Artistic expression definitely helps with that.”

"For me, freedom is always a prevalent theme in my own work. Not just freedom as a right, but freedom as a way of life [...] Freedom enriches our lives. We should want that for ourselves. We should want that for each other.”

- Zee Johnson - @ivy.league.hoodlum

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Marcus McDonald @themcdub

-GKUA photographer, curator of Uproar Art Walk Natalia Kopelman @gkuainspired

DUANE PARK

Honeysuckle goes inside Duane Park, one of New York's hottest burlesque clubs, featuring good eats, aerial dance, fire-eating, sexy kittens and more.

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Amber @AmberRayCabaret

Laszlo @LaszloMajor Lilin @LilinBurlesque

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AMERICAN

incarcerated women located in the Bronx.

In collaboration with health providers, business insiders and other communitybased organizations, Sam wants to give each and every woman in the house the opportunity to create a happy and whole life post-incarceration.

Topeka Sam: From Queenpin to Lady of Hope

By Alexa Nasiedlak There was no predicting the label “drug queenpin” for Topeka K. Sam. Her parents had set her up for success early in life, but her trajectory with prison could not have been foreseen. Today she is the founder and Executive Director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries (LOHM), a nonprofit organization intended to help incarcerated women re-enter society through education, entrepreneurship, and spiritual and emotional empowerment, which she created after her own release from prison.

Sam’s parents built their family home from the ground up; they opened a Carvel franchise in Brooklyn, and then proceeded to open a restaurant in Harlem–the first one with outdoor seating, frozen yogurt and fresh fruit shakes.

From there, Sam attended Morgan State University, an HBCU in Baltimore, Maryland, in an attempt to get out of the predominantly white neighborhood in which she grew up and surround herself with people who looked like her. While at Morgan State, Sam witnessed the ease at which guys were selling drugs off campus and was convinced she could do the same. In 2013, she was charged with drug conspiracy in Virginia, labeled a “drug queenpin” by the judge and served nearly three years in prison.

During her time in prison, Sam experienced the disproportionate effects of incarceration for women of color. She saw women forced to give birth in handcuffs followed by being denied the right to see their own children.

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She saw feminine hygiene products rationed, and women having to make their own pads out of scraps of bedding or clothing. Sam says she bore witness to the War on Drugs at work.

From then on, her passions and purpose could not be clearer: ensuring that after incarceration, “EVERY woman and girl has access to safe and affordable housing.”

She wanted to change the ways in which marginalized women reenter the world after their time in prison.

According to prisonpolicy.org, the number of women entering prison has increased by 834% since 1978, and a study by Northwestern University showed that 98% of incarcerated women have suffered trauma during their lifetimes. “I fight for women specifically because we are not heard,” Sam explained in an interview with The Grio. “I fight because people look at us and think that there’s a certain look or a certain face that goes to a woman in prison.”

After her release in 2015, Sam created LOHM. Through the organization, Sam reminds any woman who has been incarcerated, “that that experience is but one moment in our lives.”

LOHM also tackles poverty among children and women through their initiatives EPIC and Angel Food Delivery, as well as fighting for reproductive rights, bodily autonomy and agency for women and non-binary folks through the Doula Initiative.

Two years later, Sam materialized her goals further by creating Hope House: a safe housing option with individualized opportunities, mentorship and guidance for formerly

Her next steps include expanding Hope House to other parts of the country. So far, Hope House has been established in New Orleans, and next, they’ve got their eyes set on Miami. Following in her parents’ footsteps, she is building a twentyunit affordable housing property from the ground up. Here, they will support over 50 women by giving them safe and affordable housing, opportunities for workforce development, entrepreneurship support and more. Beyond the Florida city, Sam and Hope House are going international, with plans for expansion in Trinidad and Tobago, among numerous other major U.S. cities.

Beyond her own nonprofit work, Sam is a board member and avid contributor to numerous other nonprofits. She is the Director for #cut50’s #Dignity Campaign.

Columbia University named Topeka Sam as 2015’s Beyond the Bars Fellow and 2016’s Justice in Education Scholar, and she has received fellowships from the Open Society Foundation.

As one of the founders of the National Council of Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, she has worked with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) on the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act. She has also become the first formerly incarcerated woman on the board of The Marshall Project—a news nonprofit telling the hushed stories of incarceration. This integration into the political world made her a key component in Alice Marie Johnson’s case for pardon. Johnson was serving a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense before being granted a landmark clemency by the Trump administration in 2018.

And Sam’s favorite part of her work?

Seeing her sisters “grow and blossom into the brilliant and beautiful women that GOD has always intended them to be.

[Seeing] them reunite with their children and family, create businesses and nonprofit organizations, use their voices to change policy and live out loud without fear is the most rewarding experience for me.”

(C) Tyquan Bates @photosbykai

HEROES Tyra Patterson Turns a 23-Year Prison Sentence Into a Success

By Sophia Rose Nickoloff Warren

To look at Tyra Patterson today, one would see a brilliant, successful and multitalented woman who has taken Ohio’s criminal justice system by storm. Now the first Community Outreach Strategy Specialist with the Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC), Patterson educates young people on the importance of staying in school and avoiding drug use. Additionally, she strives toward providing support to formerly incarcerated people reentering society. Patterson is particularly passionate and ambitious in her work, and having joined OJPC’s team in 2018 just three weeks after her release from prison, her motivations took shape.

Patterson’s current circumstances are in stark contrast to her early life. At 11 years old, Patterson dropped out of the sixth grade due to houselessness. While growing up, Patterson lacked the resources necessary for the success she was always capable of achieving.

In 1994, at just 19 years old, Patterson was arrested for the murder of 15-year-old Michelle Lai, part of a string of events that landed her in prison for 23 years. Prior to her murder, Lai was robbed and assaulted. Patterson witnessed the latter crime and claimed that she attempted to stop the robbery, later calling the police. She voluntarily accompanied the police to the station where she was interrogated and berated into a false confession that sealed her fate.

Patterson was an easy target for police—a young Black woman failed by the system. They claimed she was a member of the “gang” who attacked Lai and her friends and was present for the murder. Patterson was charged for murder and robbery under the Felony Murder Doctrine, which allows a murder charge based on a person’s commission of a serious felony at the time a death occurs. Patterson and the others convicted completed polygraph tests in which they all stated that Patterson was not involved in the case, though this was not sufficient to exonerate her.

Holly Lai Holbrook, Lai’s sister, was beside Lai when she was murdered. Though Lai Holbrook was supportive of Patterson’s arrest at first, she became convinced of her innocence, ultimately deciding that she could not heal from Lai’s murder until Patterson’s name was cleared. Lai Holbrook wrote to Ohio governor John Kasich, pleading for Patterson’s freedom.

On Christmas Day, 2018, Patterson was released from prison due to serving a sufficient portion of her sentence with support from the community to facilitate reentry. However, her convictions have not been overturned. As she fights for her innocence, Patterson will remain on parole until December 25th, 2022.

At 46, Patterson is now a voice of hope for youth who lack sufficient resources. She serves as a line of support for formerly incarcerated people reentering society. In October 2020, Patterson was awarded an honorary degree from the Art Academy of Cincinnati. As part of her role with OJPC, she frequently speaks at schools, community centers, and prison about mass incarceration and wrongful convictions.

“I vowed to myself I would be the person showing kids how much change they can have on the world,” Patterson said to CNN regarding her educational work. “I want to talk to every student who will allow me to. I just stress to them, kindness will open doors that education won’t… You have to be kind, no matter what happens to you.”

Expanding on her artistic strengths, she began working with the nonprofit organization ArtWorks and other local artists to complete Time Saved vs. Time Served, a Cincinnati mural depicting five women, including Patterson, who were incarcerated.

Patterson refuses to stop fighting for her innocence, which she maintains to this day until the charges against her are dropped.

With the weight of murder and robbery on her record, Patterson faces obstacles in voting, further education and public benefits.

With the hopes of overturning these charges, Patterson would be able to live a free life without the constraints of false accusations against her.

Patterson’s attorney later claimed that his handling of her case was his lowest point as a lawyer. She was dissuaded from entering the witness stand under accusations of speaking “too hood.” The recording of Patterson’s 911 call was withheld, and half the jury said their guilty verdicts would have been swayed if they’d been given the opportunity to hear the recording.

Though Patterson could have easily become bitter during her time in prison, she refused to let her false conviction break her. She and attorney David Singleton of the OJPC continued battling to clear her name. She earned her GED, learning to read and write, and earned her steam engineer’s license as well. Additionally, Patterson became a certified tutor and completed a paralegal training program. Fellow incarcerated people referred to her as the “jailhouse attorney” who used her paralegal knowledge to help them gain freedom. Patterson also turned to art, which provided an adequate mental escape for her.

Photo © Ohio Justice and Policy Center Center

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IMPACT

Honeysuckle Highlights Non-Profits Supporting Cannabis Communities in Need

By Theara Coleman

Oakland, California-based nonprofit organization The Hood Incubator is shaking the table in the name of equity in the booming cannabis industry. Since its inception in 2016, the founders have dedicated their energy to addressing the industry’s lack of inclusivity, specifically its exclusion of the Black community. Founders Ebele Ifedigbo, Lanese Martin, and Biseat Horning came together to illuminate the history of inequity of access and disproportionate punishment from the War on Drugs plaguing the Black community.

While cannabis use is equal across racial categories, Black and brown people are more than four times as likely to be arrested and charged with marijuana possession. This number pales in comparison to the mere 4.3 percent of Black cannabis business owners. The Hood Incubator wants to change that.

HOOD INCUBATOR

They aim to build political and economic power for Black people in the cannabis industry through three core strategies: “building a movement,” economic development, and community education.

Their combined efforts in community organizing and policy advocacy set the pace towards more economic opportunities for a community struggling to find its footing in the blossoming industry.

The organization does the work of demystifying the ins and outs of the legal cannabis industry for Black people, and they put pressure on cannabis corporations to provide access.

According to their website, in five short years, their impact is already being felt nationally. In their hometown of Oakland, they successfully advocated for the first citywide equity policy— Oakland’s Cannabis Equity Program. They launched the first people-of-color-focused cannabis business accelerator that has helped launch thirty Black-owned cannabis businesses. They have also been able to train Black people from all over the nation to help further their agenda in cannabis justice and reform through their Cannabis Justice Accelerator, a four-week intensive program that trains entrepreneurs and investors to enter the space with a thorough understanding of the War on Drugs, social equity, and factors at play in the industry. The program’s graduates go on to use the skills they learn as cannabis justice activists to create campaigns that work against inequality in their neighborhoods.

The founders have been featured in notable media outlets for their efforts, including Forbes’ 2018 30 under 30 List. As they expand the possibilities for Black people in the legal cannabis industry, they stand to leave a legacy of liberation and abundance for their community after decades of inequity.

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Hood Incubator co-founders Ebele Ifedigbo, Lanese Martin, and Biseat Horning © The Hood Incubator

person and a policy person, I saw how the cannabis industry wasn’t going to work for us.”

By: Tasnia Choudhury

Kelly Perez and Courtney Mathis © Cannabis Doing Good / kindColorado

Courtney Mathis and Kelly Perez, founders of the company kindColorado and its offshoots, are the likeliest of friends, two currents of the same electric dynamic. Perez began at Colorado’s Governor’s Office crafting health policy while Mathis was toiling in the nonprofit world after a stint as a marine researcher. At some point, they both looked around and uttered a sincere “What the fuck?” that set the trajectory for their eventual partnership.

For Perez, it was witnessing injustices against Denver’s Black and brown communities as the area’s cannabis legalization policies followed the racially-biased patterns of those for alcohol. For Mathis, it was the power hoarding and the blank canvas of apathy she saw on the all-white boards of nonprofit organizations.

Why cannabis? Why now? The industry is uniquely poised but not without its challenges. The battle is littered with bureaucratic red tape and various stigmas, but hope is not lost. There is a moral imperative to ensure BIPOC people have opportunities to achieve wealth and prosperity, plus a nexus of national standards and state municipal policies working to ensure equity, sustainability and community benefiting them at an investor level.

According to Mathis and Perez,, people in the cannabis sector have historically been counterculture rebels, medicine givers and local community leaders, essentially, the “perfect people to compost old ways of doing business,” at a time when consumers care about purpose and transparency more than ever before.

CANNABIS IMPACT FUND

kindColorado was the lovechild of their mutual disdain for the injustice of these two systems. Operating within a Cannabis Social Responsibility framework, kindColorado creates pathways for communities and businesses to collaborate and parKelly Perez, Co-Founder & CEO ticipate in outreach. The Kelly is the CEO/co-founder of kindColorado and President/co-founder of Cannabis Doing Good and co-founder/ED for the Cannabis Impact Fund (CIF). This first of its kind effort joins national company makes efforts to anti-racism efforts like the Black Futures Lab, the Color of Change, and the Bail Project, as well as, supporting the homegrown racial justice efforts of the Hood Incubator, M4MM and MCBA. ensure the cannabis industry’s responsibility to the Black kindCO, CDG and the CIF put into action cannabis partnerships to support equity/justice, positive community impact, and environmental sustainability to help to shift the cannabis and brown people who have suffered during the War on narrative---from the War on Drugs, to a cultural sea change where opportunities are equitable, Drugs and in the wake of a billion-dollar market.

“We believe this industry has the profound ability to create a confluence of economic, social and political change. We are the movement,” declares the kindColorado website.

Already recognized as one of the Top 100 Cannabis Companies in the United States, kindColorado became an impetus for Perez and Mathis’s other ventures. In the last two years they co-founded Cannabis Doing Good (CDG), a community building platform highlighting, educating and awarding socially responsible companies in cannabis. CDG was born from kindColorado’s experience and brought to life in partnership with digital marketing agency PufCreativ. CDG then teamed up with Sensible Colorado, a medical cannabis patients’ advocacy organization, to create the nonprofit Cannabis Impact Fund. The Cannabis Impact fund is a 501c3 dedicated to garnering pledges from cannabis companies to support the Black Lives Matter movement and racial justice-focused organizations in partnership with Founding Members, Pledge Partners and community donors. As part of its mission, the Cannabis Impact Fund asks businesses to pledge 1 percent of their equity, shares, sales or product to leverage toward various justice initiatives.

For Perez, it was an inevitable and organic extension of herself.

“I am a Black woman. My Black life has always mattered and that has been my work for 30 years. Because I am a public health

For Mathis, the circuitous path to philanthropy was marked by a deep understanding of intersectionality. Poverty and an unstable home in Louisiana gave her a visceral understanding of race and class. “As I grew up, I realized I didn’t want people to be hungry, I didn’t want people to be poor and uneducated and cold. And so, I did what a lot of disempowered white women do—I went into a nonprofit with a savior mentality and quickly realized there was no real interest in creating equity in these spaces.” From then on, she shifted gears to answer the question: Is there a way to partner cannabis with nonprofit so resources go back to the communities that need them most?

Through Rich Male, an internationally recognized community organizer, she met Perez, and immersed herself in what she calls a “live petri dish on what it means to sort through class and race in order to build a business based on equity and mutual respect.”

The duo sharply criticizes companies now flocking to diversity, equality and inclusion work as a response to the BLM movement; they believe the trend illustrates the lack of accountability in performative activism. “It is not rooted in historical context, how deeply oppression is interwoven in all parts of our society. Companies are not actually engaging in creating a culture that is safe for BIPOC people.”

The premise of CDG and the Cannabis Impact Fund is the simple yet demanding tenet that if a business is not rooted in anti-racism, then they are furthering the tokenization of BIPOC people. To date, the Cannabis Impact Fund has raised close to $40,000 and is one of the major funders for organizations who have engaged in years-long racial justice efforts, including Black Future Lab, Bail Project, Color Of Change and The Hood Incubator. “Put your money where your mouth is,” they say to the 97 percent non-Black owned industry, and commit to donating to these causes.

With three companies and one nonprofit bound by courage, humility and heart, these two women have created an ecosystem that educates companies on how to do good so they can do better.

Mathis muses, “We’ve had fights and hugs full of tears and what’s emerged is real trust. Because we can do it interpersonally, we are able to build business practices that center equity, the planet and the people.”

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JOURNALISTIC ACCOUNTABILITY: THE MARSHALL PROJECT

BY JOSE PAZ SOLDAN Since 1970, the U.S. prison population has increased 700 percent, becoming an Ouroboros (a mythical serpent eating its own tail), feeding on itself so corrupt officials and private businesses make money off marginalized individuals. Understanding this, in 2015 Neil Barsky began the Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organization The Marshall Project, to reveal the growing cancer of the carceral system.

Named after the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall, The Marshall Project emphasizes acting as a vector between a diverse and often disenfranchised populace hungry for the truth behind bars; those suffering from a system rife with racial bias and apathy towards the mentally ill.

Through its journalism and investigation into injustices and corruption in the carceral system, the organization seeks to inspire reform and change.

Barsky founded the news outlet because he saw traditional media and its important checks and balances wither. He has observed a real threat to liberty as “newsrooms have been hollowed out[...]This means less accountability and a weaker democracy.”

In their Winter 2021 Impact Report, The Marshall Project showed t h e

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effects that its journalism and research has achieved. First is the research they have done regarding police dogs, the use of which sends thousands to emergency rooms every year. The Marshall Project’s evidence showed a clear racial bias, as most victims of police dog attacks are Black, leading to an amendment on the policy of canine training. The organization later collaborated with the New York Times to investigate fatalities during the transportation of prisoners. Numerous detention facilities outsource transportation of prisoners to private companies that utilize inhumane conditions, such as being “tightly packed with no seats inside a cage, with no way to lie down to sleep,” in the words of the report.

Just this year, The Marshall Project also produced a story about prisoners in Tennessee being put into solitary confinement with little regard for health or mental illnesses. In one case, a woman was placed in solitary confinement for over 180 days due to her contraction of a staph infection.

The Marshall Project has worked with the Associated Press to track the effect of COVID-19 within the prison system, providing weekly updates to the media about the pandemic behind bars Their work has been cited by numerous authorities, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Iowa Department of Corrections.

“What struck me was not only how expensive, ineffective and racially biased [the system of crime and punishment] is, but also how difficult it was to find anyone, whether they’re liberal or conservative, who defends the status quo. But our condition has become taken for granted.’’

Barsky said on the org anization’s website.

Legacy 420: Healing Indigenous Trauma Through Cannabis

By Annie Burky Before he opened the retail brand Legacy 420 in 2015, Tim Barnhart of Ontario’s Mohawk tribe knew his rights. The walls of Legacy 420, the first cannabis shop on the Mohawk reservation, Tyendinaga, were strong. As Canada’s Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) became law in 2018, he was ready with a fortress built of paper, concrete and legalese.

For two years, Barnhart’s was the reservation’s only shop. Tribal leaders grumbled about what they saw as a lightning rod drawing in federal and provincial authorities. In 2017, Barnhart wasn’t surprised to find off-reservation police at his door. He handed over everything with one ask—that they go to the federal, not provincial, authorities.

According to the Indian Act of 1876, the federal authorities maintain jurisdiction over tribal taxation, commerce and criminal law. They would then only have to determine if the plant was harming Indigenous populations. However, under C-45, provincial governments charged with managing cannabis could decide that without a provincial license the shop was illegal.

Without said license, Barnhart was relying solely on tribal sovereignty to stake his claim. And the powers-at-be acquiesced.

Today, the Tyendinaga reservation with its 2500 residents holds 47 cannabis shops. Legacy 420 maintains its claim to tribal sovereignty by being vertically integrated; everything, every gummy and bud and salve is made with First Nations’ products.

Legacy 420 and the nearly 50 stores reside within a legal grey area between federal, provincial and tribal law—an area that has historically favored white colonizers. But Barnhart feels his people have a shot at gaining financial independence from the patriarchal state and healing from the anguish it wrought.

“They might just leave us alone because of the state of the economy,” Barnhart said. “That might give us the leeway we need to negotiate. On Tyendinaga, there are anywhere from 350 to 500 people actively employed through various cannabis entities. So, if you’re laying off 350 to 500 people who are making very good money, that would rain hell down on Tyendinaga and Canada.”

While he waits to see what Canada’s next move is, Barnhart thinks cannabis can be a balm against centuries of trauma.

Pointing to a study he conducted of 1200 Indigenous participants which questioned the reason for their usage of the plant, 98% of respondents mentioned its medical efficacy. Benefits like decreased stress and inhibition as the most common responses have convinced Barnhart that inadvertent self-medication is taking place; “People who don’t realize this is medical are getting a medical benefit from the plant anyway.”

Barnhart emphasizes that Indigenous trauma is not relegated to the past; many living on Tyendinaga today were forced into boarding schools where indignities were myriad: Rampant sexual assault at the hands of Christian clergy; cutting of traditional braids; children beaten for speaking their mother tongue. Just this

year, mass graves were found behind Canadian residential schools.

Families had passed down stories of loved ones disappearing or running away from the state-mandated institutions when, in actuality, they were being slowly starved to death.

As boarding schools were phased out, Indigenous children were pulled from their homes by child welfare in what was called “the ‘60s scoop.” Then followed mandated day schools, currently a class-action lawsuit. These children, now in middle to old age, were kept away from family, tradition and culture until fear created a void between the past and present. They also happen to be Barnhart’s prime customers.

Legacy 420’s website advertises over 500 products with a chat feature allowing customers to ask for self-medication support.

Barnhart first began with nearly all THC products, but now offers 40% CBD. His core demographic is 50-75 year-olds, many of whom take advantage of Legacy 420’s senior discount program.

When tribal peers express hesitation about cannabis, Barnhart uses his own healing as an example. The plant helped pull him away from heavy drinking in the 1970s. Later, it helped him kick a nasty opioid addiction following a hip injury.

Observing the rise of opiates, Barnhart proposed a buy-back program to the tribal elders and reservation law enforcement after pill-peddling drug companies made fast work of Indigenous populations. His proposal was denied. Instead, he went to nearby Loyalist College to develop a two-week intensive cannabis training for first responders. In addition to these ancillary programs, he feels the Mohawk people’s best support is his carefully cultivated cannabis.

“Under [Bill C-45], you are regulated to put pesticides, herbicides, fungicides on your plant and radiated in the end,” Barnhart said.

“Our people don’t think that’s medicine. That’s poison, and that’s how we’ve always looked at it.”

To protect both people and land, Legacy 420 only uses organic, no-till practices, allowing word of cannabis to spread. Their nation-to-nation wholesale has expanded exponentially, tying together First Nations throughout Canada. But an increase in sales denotes a corresponding potential for taxes, leaving Barnhart with one eye on the horizon.

“It’s always been my wish to see us raising our own revenue, to basically get rid of any responsibility that the province thinks they have over our people,” Barnhart said. “And I think cannabis sales could give us the revenue to replace the provincial government.”

Barnhart currently has two lawsuits against the government regarding water rights and taxation. The former addresses the pollution of a Tyendinaga well. In the latter, he claims the government unlawfully taxed him on wholesale cigar purchases, something he sees as a precursor to a potential cannabis battle, one he is preparing for. He urges all residents in Canada and the U.S. to better know their rights, “because you get trampled if you don’t.”

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ACTIVISTS

420 NJ Events: Expanding Cannabis Justice

By Ian Ward Co-founded and owned by Stanley Okoro and Brendon Robinson, 420 NJ Events is a Black-owned digital media and event platform whose mission is to raise awareness of the benefits of cannabis. They also focus on advocating for groups who were disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs, particularly Black and brown folks.

The organization has recently shifted their focus following New Jersey’s move to automatically expunge cannabis-related offenses (the state has expunged over 362,000 nonviolent cannabis charges so far). Through holding expungement clinics, Robinson and Okoro hope to facilitate New Jerseyans learning their new rights.

“While it’s great that New Jersey recently implemented an automatic expungement process, the system in which an individual needs to track their expungement is convoluted and unclear,” said Robinson, CEO of 420 NJ Events.

Robinson, who attended the College of New Jersey and Rowan University, worked his way to becoming the Vice President and Business Banking Director of Santander Bank before entering the cannabis industry. One reason why Robinson decided to move towards the cannabis industry was to follow his passion for social justice and equity along with cannabis reform. He believes that even within the cannabis industry, there is still stigma surrounding the plant.

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Brendon Robinson and Stanley Okoro. © 420NJEvents

420 NJ

Carlo Manab

“There are people who are high-ranking executives, cultivation managers, brand ambassadors, so on and so forth working IN the cannabis industry... and some of them don’t consume cannabis because of the stigma associated with it,” Robinson said.

When looking at ways to fight cannabis stigma, Robinson suggests that the public and those in power need to be reeducated on the true history of the plant. Until the complex racial and political issues are fleshed out, those still paying for misconceptions and blatantly racist practices will continue to do so. It is for these reasons that the organization holds forums and workshops to parse out the history of the substance.

“It all comes back to education; the sooner we implement the proper channels to educate the community, properly manage the funding for social equity programs and start backing programs like 420NJEvents so that they can hold events that are capable of making a real time impact,” Robinson said.

On September 14, 420 NJ Events hosted an expungement clinic in Newark which focused on giving free support on how to expunge low-level cannabis convictions. Future clinics are planned according to Robinson.

Other upcoming 420 NJ Events will include a career workshop in South Jersey at the end of October which will feature resume building, interview preparation and soft skills training.

Robinson hopes that cannabis can provide an opportunity to build an infrastructure that is designed for all Americans, not just those in power.

bat.

Tahir Johnson’s Good Fight By: Tasnia Choudhury Tahir Johnson is not your average diversity, equity and inclusion advisor trying to meet quotas for some Fortune 500 company. He is the Director of Social Equity and Inclusion for the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) and is ready to get into good, necessary trouble for this fight. One of the nation’s largest coalitions of leading cannabis businesses and advocacy organizations, USCC works to achieve social justice and accessibility within the legal cannabis industry for those who have been adversely impacted by the War on Drugs. In his role, to which he was appointed this spring, Johnson - well known as a change agent in the space - helps USCC create programs that further social equity understanding from industry stakeholders, as well as running an accountability task force for the coalition’s members.

“I will never forget the communities I represent,.” Johnson says.

Johnson’s history with the plant dates back to his days working at a local dispensary and when his father’s fibromyalgia diagnosis prompted an honest conversation about the benefits of cannabis.

He then began recognizing the land of opportunity hidden in marijuana. His work with diversity stems from his identity as a Black man, his time at Howard University, and his devotion to his community. His dharma was the momentum for his career as he served on the Diversity Council at Morgan Stanley after studying at Howard University.

Johnson repeatedly preaches the tenets of equity being diverse leadership, education, accountability and very importantly, networking. “We need to impress the need of building personal relationships that will educate you and carry you through your career.”

This attention to human connection has motivated Johnson throughout his time in the cannabis industry. He serves as the Director of Social Equity and Inclusion for the Marijuana Policy Project concurrently with his role at USCC, aiding the efforts

of the country’s largest nonprofit for cannabis legalization. Previously, he had been the Business Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager for the National Cannabis Business Association, and before that, in addition to myriad advisory and directorial roles with cannabis organizations, he created his own firms to focus on engaging Black entrepreneurs in the industry. Enterprises included cannabis-focused investment and technology training for Black-owned businesses, and a connector geared toward strengthening the network of Historically Black Colleges and Universities alumni in the space.

Cannabis is the vector through which Johnson advocates for his people to gain access to capital. “There needs to be more financial literacy in Black communities,” he explains.

Yet, his career and personal goals reveal his optimism and hope for the emerging industry. Johnson cites the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) recently introduced by Senators Chuck Photo: Carlo Manabat Schumer, Ron Wyden, and Cory Booker, the most comprehensive cannabis reform legislation in Congress. CAOA aims to end decades of harm inflicted on communities of color during the War on Drugs by removing cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances and empowering states to implement their own cannabis laws.

The bill uses a Community Reinvestment Grant program to fund areas like job training, reentry services, legal aid, literacy programs, youth recreation/mentoring, and health education. With further policies of record expungement and programming to increase minority ownership in the cannabis industry, the CAOA acts as a roadmap to restorative justice through action.

Johnson is a fervent champion of the ethical obligations of the cannabis industry. He hosts the Cannabis Diversity Report podcast, where he speaks on opportunities in the market and was previously the Business Development and Diversity Equity & Inclusion Manager at the National Cannabis Industry Association. “The USCC shares this passion, and I take this position knowing that cannabis leadership has the power and responsibility to impact real and honest change—and I look forward to playing a part.”

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When Jessica Jackson’s ex-husband was released from prison, he was put on parole. He was able to secure a job, housing, and most importantly was able to help out with their three-year-old daughter. One day he got pulled over for a busted tail light, and ended up spending 60 days in county jail. Police alleged he hadn’t been reporting for parole, but really there had been an error in their computer system. By the time he successfully petitioned the judge, he had already lost his job and fallen behind on rent payments. This is the collateral damage caused by the U.S. parole system.

In 2018, there were 4.4 million adults on parole or probation in the United States. Jessica, now Chief Advocacy Officer of the parole-focused nonprofit REFORM Alliance, has made it her mission to reform our national approach to incarceration.

“I had a front row seat to watch what it looks like for somebody coming home when [my ex-husband] was placed on parole,” said Jessica.“The difficult work was really being able to rebuild his life and get housing and employment, and get connected back with his [daughter]. It was just devastating for him.”

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Photo © REFORM Alliance

By Michael Morris, Additional Reporting by Lara Dreux

JESSICA JACKSON: “HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE”

Jessica’s experience with the criminal justice system, as a then 22-year-old who had dropped out of high school, helped inspire her to go to college, and eventually law school. Since then, she’s served as Mayor of Mill Valley, California for one term as the town’s youngest elected official, co-founder of the bipartisan prison reform organization #cut50 (now DreamCorps JUSTICE) with news commentator Van Jones, and helped establish the First Step Act of 2018, a federal law aimed at, among other goals, reducing the prison population.

“There are underlying reasons why people get sent to prison, and it’s trauma, it’s inability to access the resources they need for mental health or substance abuse support,” Jessica said. “My friend says, ‘Hurt people hurt people’, and I think that’s very true. In America this narrative is put out that some people are bad, but that’s not what’s driving crime in America. It’s actually the lack of opportunities and social infrastructure for so many people. We can decarcerate all day long, but what we really need is to focus on preventing crime and making sure people have the resources they need.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 85 percent of those incarcerated in US prisons have either been sentenced for drug crimes or currently have a substance abuse disorder.

Rather than receiving real rehabilitative care, masses of people are cycled through the criminal justice system.

There are millions of people right now on parole or probation, and it’s shocking just how easy it is to end up back in jail.

“A large percentage of [people on parole or probation] end up back [in prison], and not because they’re out there committing crimes, or because they’re any sort of public safety risk. They might miss a meeting with a probation officer,” said Jessica.

“How many times in your own life are you late paying a bill or late for a meeting?”

Mass supervision has become a driver of mass incarceration. 1 out of every 4 people who are in prison today are there because of a parole or probation violation.

When the First Step Act passed, it was lauded as a bipartisan achievement. The bill’s six, complex provisions were to be implemented over a three-year period, meaning it should currently be in full effect.

But the First Step Act has run into implementation issues due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A key aspect of the law is something called earned time credits. Those incarcerated can reduce their sentence by participating in rehabilitative programming, which is usually provided by nonprofit groups. The issue is that many prisons became closed to outside visitors, including those nonprofit groups, when the pandemic first began. As a result, many incarcerated people were unable to accrue earned time credits for an extended period of time.

The act also made it easier for those incarcerated to access what’s called compassionate release, when people who are terminally ill, elderly, or otherwise medically at risk are released from prison.

The CARES Act of 2020 built on this aspect of First Step, and made it possible for those with serious Covid-19 risk factors to finish their sentences under home confinement, rather than in prison.

But as vaccines have been rolled out in this country, many people undergoing home confinement have been brought back to prison. This is thanks to Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr, who penned a memo three days before leaving office arguing that Congress had not authorized the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to allow people to remain under home confinement, but had only authorized the BOP to temporarily release people into home confinement.

“Essentially these folks would have to report back at the end of the pandemic, which is such an arbitrary [timeline], because no one knows when this pandemic is going to be over,” said Jessica.

“This would be devastating. They’ve come home, they’ve gotten jobs, they’ve gotten their housing, they’ve been able to reconnect with a loved one. Now, they’re under threat, living every day on the edge of their seats and wondering if they’re going to have to go back to federal prison.”

The Biden administration is wrangling with this issue. It is unclear whether there will be some kind of mass executive action to prevent this, or whether these people will be forced to return to prison. As it stands, those under home confinement because of their Covid-19 risk factors have a recidivism rate of less than 1 percent. The national recidivism rate, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, is 67.5 percent.

The First Step Act has had a broad impact on the U.S. prison system, and yet did not fall victim to partisan politics when it was being deliberated. It was a true bipartisan bill that was signed into law by President Trump.

Jessica herself very much grew up in a bipartisan household.

“My mom’s a super liberal from Sweden who lives in the Bay Area, and my dad is a Trump-supporting Republican who lives down in Georgia,” she said. “So it’s always been in my nature to listen to people and figure out how to talk to them based on what their principles and values are.”

Putting the First Step Act together was possible because of this strategy. Jessica believes that prison reform is an ideal area for conservatives and liberals to find common ground.

“Republicans believe in smaller government, and you don’t have a bigger, more bureaucratic, more bloated system than our prison system,” said Jessica. “They believe in accountability and transparency. There is no system you can point to in this country that has less transparency than our prison system. So we’ve been able to really come together from both sides of the aisle and find some common language to be able to talk about some common solutions.”

The reality is that addressing these issues is much more costeffective than incarcerating someone for years at a time. On average, it costs $31,307 to incarcerate one person for one year.

At REFORM Alliance, Jessica and her colleagues have been adding reinvestment clauses to bills that they work on. A certain percentage of whatever money is saved by the bill’s decarceral provisions are required to be reinvested in social services that will provide people with needed resources, and in the long-run reduce recidivism and crime.

Though the cost of imprisoning someone is high, state and private prisons can still generate big profits based on the number of people they’ve incarcerated. The profit motive behind capturing human bodies contributes to a larger systemic failure of the criminal justice system to properly address the real roots of crime “[We don’t] talk about the reasons why people commit crimes, because there is a sort of fascination with crime people,” Jessica said. “Serial killers and bad people out there doing all these types of things. It’s like a boogeyman’s perspective. It hasn’t been [a narrative] in which people have been humanized, it’s been more that people are painted to be monsters.”

U.S. taxpayers fund a flawed system that puts profits over the health and safety of individuals. It’s time to speak up about the devastating impact of the prison industrial complex.

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The New Faces of NY’s Political Scene

By Jaime Lubin New York has been the site of a wild, historic scene in cannabis politics this year. In March 2021, the state legalized adult-use cannabis through the passage of the Marijuana Regulation and Tax Act (MRTA), the most sweeping social equity-focused legislation on national record. Though questions abound regarding how various programs and aspects of the industry will be regulated under the state’s newly formed Office of Cannabis Management, the MRTA addresses issues that have been largely untouched in other governmental legalization plans. Among the points of interest are immediate expungement for people with nonviolent cannabis charges; housing and parental custody protections for cannabis consumers; provisions around the legality of small-scale home-growing; and directives to guarantee diversity and inclusion at every level of regulation.

The Office of Cannabis Management will ensure that New York’s policies will benefit marginalized communities disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs, primarily through the goal of reinvesting 40 percent of sales tax on cannabis products as directed under the MRTA. Additionally, the board will approve and oversee licensing of growers in the state, as well as regulating cannabis retail sales.

Concurrently, New York has dealt with a monumental government shakeup: In August, longtime leader Andrew Cuomo resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal. He was replaced by Kathy Hochul, who became the state’s first female governor after serving the past six years as lieutenant governor.

While Governor Hochul’s first month in her new office included facing the challenges of unprecedented flooding from Hurricane Ida, managing the COVID-19 pandemic, and transitioning staff in one of the country’s most complex governmental bodies, she’s made a very public commitment to pushing cannabis regulation forward.

“New York’s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long,” Governor Hochul said in a recent public statement. “I am making important appointments to set the Office of Cannabis Management up for success so they can hit the ground running.”

Previously, she asserted the need to “make up for lost time,” as local cannabis advocates believe that Cuomo’s lack of enthusiasm for the program had hindered its progress.

Within just a few short weeks, Governor Hochul has empowered New York’s government to create greater opportunities for the cannabis community and the state’s overall inclusive society. Here are some of her key appointments to know.

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Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin As her second-in-command, Governor Hochul chose Brian Benjamin, a progressive state senator from Harlem whose focus on criminal justice significantly altered police and prison reform in New York City.

During his tenure in the Senate, Benjamin supported efforts such as bringing greater accountability to the NYPD, substantially limiting police no-knock warrants, ending cash bail and solitary confinement, restoring parolees’ voting rights, not incarcerating parolees for violations of their parole, allowing felons who completed their sentences to serve on juries, and passing an anti-chokehold act. Benjamin was also one of the major figures responsible for introducing the bill Post Traumatic Prison Disorder Shawanna W76337, historic legislation to address the mental health crisis in the American carceral system, into the state legislature in February 2021. Co-sponsored by Assemblymember Kimberly Jean-Pierre, the legislation was conceptualized by prisoners’ rights activist Shawanna Vaughn, founder of Silent Cry Inc., a nonprofit that provides resources to families and individuals affected by incarceration and poverty-related trauma.

“Trauma is a pervasive condition in the correctional system,” Benjamin said when announcing the bill.

“And by ignoring the problem, we are not only kicking the can down the road, but we are also making things worse. This legislation is a first step toward addressing the situation.”

Benjamin was officially sworn in as Lieutenant Governor on September 9, 2021.

Chris Alexander and Tremaine Wright Shortly after taking office, Governor Hochul named Chris Alexander, former Policy Coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance, to be the Executive Director of the Office of Cannabis Management. She also selected Tremaine Wright, a former New York State Assembly representative for the 56th District and currently Director of the Office of Financial Inclusion and Empowerment for the NYS Department of Financial Services, as Chair of the Cannabis Board. The state legislature confirmed both Alexander and Wright shortly after the Governor’s nominations; together they are running the Office of Cannabis Management.

As Board Chair, Wright has become one of only a small number of Black women to hold a position in cannabis regulatory oversight leadership for a governmental organization. She has had a long history of fighting for cannabis legalization in New York.

Prior to his role of Executive Director, Alexander was the government relations and policy director for Vill LLC, a multi-state cannabis operator based in Canada; he also had experience as an Associate Counsel in the New York State Senate.

Those working in the cannabis industry and on behalf of restorative justice were thrilled with the announcements.

Kassandra Frederique, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said the organization “applaud[ed]” the selections of Alexander and Wright: “They both understand the deep harm that criminalization has caused to individuals and communities – especially communities of color – across the state. Their past work has reflected a commitment to working with people who have been directly impacted by Prohibition and demonstrated a belief in evidence-based policies that center equity and justice.”

Green Market Report noted that Alexander had been championing the importance of developing the MRTA’s social equity program for months before learning of his potential appointment.

At a webinar in May 2021, he stated, “What we have in terms of our social economic equity program is really an MWBE [Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise] program on steroids, essentially, where we’re really trying to target the folks who want to access the market.

That includes people who have been impacted

by Prohibition, that includes people who live in communities that have been over-policed. For marijuana possession offenses, that includes… social and economically disadvantaged farmers who are struggling to keep… products flowing and keep their industry alive.”

Though Wright predicted to Gothamist that New Yorkers won’t be able to purchase legal cannabis until possibly 2022, she expressed deep enthusiasm for her role with Alexander and the board. “This is truly collaborative,” she commented. “We are all going to end up working together.”

Reuben McDaniel III and Jessica Garcia In late September, Governor Hochul confirmed two additional Cannabis Control Board members: Reuben McDaniel III of the New York State Dormitory Authority (DASNY) and Jessica Garcia of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). Unlike Alexander and Wright, their appointments did not require confirmation from the state legislature.

McDaniel comes to the Board with a career in public service and finance. An accomplished investment banker with more than 30 years in financial services, he founded an investment firm where he managed more than $50 million in portfolios and business assets. He also participated in issuing over $75 million tax-exempt bonds throughout the country prior to his joining DASNY, and once served as the Chair of the Atlanta Board of Education for Public Schools.

Originally from Honduras, Garcia spent her early career advocating for fair funding for New York City’s public schools. With the RWDSU, a national labor union representing workers along the food supply chain as well as non-food retail and healthcare workers, she has worked as both Deputy Political Director and Assistant to the President to advance the union’s legislative and political agendas. Prior to her role with the union, she was Director of Programs and Organizing at New Immigrant Community Empowerment.

She currently serves as chair of board of the New York Committee for Safety and Health and the Advocacy Institute, vice-president of the Rural & Migrant Ministry board of directors, and member of the board of the Costa Ricanbased organization, Vivir El Sueno.

Speaking to Marijuana Moment after learning of the new appointments, Kassandra Frederique remarked, “We are glad to see that the governor is not wasting any time getting the cannabis regulatory system up on its feet. New Yorkers have made it clear that marijuana regulation is a priority and they have waited long enough.

We congratulate Reuben McDaniel III and Jessica Garcia on their appointments and look forward to working with them to build a just and equitable industry in New York, and ensuring profits are directed back into the communities that have paid the steepest price during prohibition.”

“I am confident Mr. McDaniel and Ms. Garcia will serve the board with professionalism and experience as we lead our state forward in this new industry,” the Governor commented in a public statement.

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“I am highly energetic,” says Frances “Franny” Tacy, founder of the revolutionary brand Franny’s Farmacy.

She’s not just making a cannabis pun. Known for being North Carolina’s first female hemp farmer and a driving force to establish the modern American hemp industry in conjunction with regenerative agriculture, Tacy is a pioneer whose life is a cyclone of activity. As she prepares to expand business operations by opening more stores along the East Coast, she’s also able to jump from environmental education at her working farm/agri-tourism destination Franny’s Farm in North Carolina to hemp events around the country to meeting with potential franchisees, and even planned a family reunion at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship where her son competed. Nicknamed “Nature Mama” early in childhood, Tacy truly embodies the continuous activity of Mother Earth herself.

REGENERATE

Now she’s entering a new phase, described as “Franny 3.0,” the pinnacle of a journey of self-discovery that reflects the holistic approach of her entire business model. Not many realize that the woman behind the groundbreaking CBD and agricultural brand has just this year taken over as CEO of the enterprise. Buying out her former partner, who previously had run operations while Franny managed the farm, product development and R&D, Tacy looks forward to “an emergence [of Franny’s Farmacy], flowering into new places.”

“I’ve been growing this business just like a plant, with the roots first,” she explains. “So deep, so wide, so connected to the nutrients that fuel a business that no storm, no anything in this unregulated industry will destroy our plant… This is what I do. This is Franny – the farmer, the forester with a Master’s in education, PhD coursework with the Smithsonian Institute, the [15-year] pharmaceutical sales rep who figured out how to get those experiences into a business.”

And as all parts of Tacy’s evolution coalesce, she’s taking the opportunity to engage more female entrepreneurs in the hemp industry.

The three newest franchises in the Franny’s Farmacy network are women-owned – in Charlotte, North Carolina, and soon-to-open Alpharetta, Georgia and Northern Virginia (Nova) – a first for the company, but an important marker in the business’s next evolution.

For years Tacy has mentored women seeking to enter the cannabinoid space, founding the Women in Hemp nonprofit to empower those connected to all aspects of the plant. Now, she says, the group of women cultivating Franny’s franchises in their local communities heralds a much-needed shift as the national industry keeps adjusting to changing COVID-19 regulations and culture. Noting that 90 percent of Americans who lost jobs in the pandemic are women, according to recent studies, Tacy believes that female business leaders take a broader view of creating a tangible impact with their work than their male counterparts. That humanitarian commitment makes all the difference in a society learning to see beyond profits.

“These franchisees are amazing business professionals,” Tacy observes. “Zan, who’s opening the Alpharetta store, is a pharmacist.

She said, ‘For 30 years, I’ve been able to help people with pharma-

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Franny's Alpharetta, GA franchise owner Zan Karim, Franny Tacy, and Charlotte, NC

FRANNY'S FARMACY

BY: JAIME LUBIN

ceuticals but a lot of that was un-healthcare. And now I want to evolve into the real health of the mind, body, spirit, plant medicine.

I have to keep helping people and I couldn’t do it behind a white box anymore.’”

Tacy’s own story of “putting the FARM in Farmacy” has inspired many from pharmaceutical and more traditional paths to join the plant revolution. Because she’s built her entire operation on vertical integration and transparency – meaning clean, organic processing across every level of production “traceable from seed to shelf ” – she views it as converting the system from the inside out. “[As the CEO] now just beyond the vision, I am also the decision maker in every way, shape and form about the direction of the company,” she comments. “We’ve done something unprecedented in franchising; not only do we have the most dialed-in, cool training where people come stay at the farm, so they get educated in rotations, manufacturing, distribution, trained in marketing and POS in every single aspect. But it’s attracting more women and it’s reviving retail. We’ve come up with a system to allow our franchisees to build an online business wrapped through our website where they get a commission on our [digital] sales. What came out of Covid is that retail is not retail anymore… The whole consumer population changed.”

Integrity has always been a key component in the Franny’s brand, but these days Tacy finds that an exponentially increasing number of consumers are concerned about sourcing and ethics behind what they buy. Each of her franchises partners with local nonprofits to direct their impact back to their communities, and she imbues her planetary wellness ethos into every initiative (even the brick-andmortar Franny’s stores use sustainable materials in their construction). In addition to Franny’s Farmacy and the working farm, Tacy hosts an ongoing Farm Camp for children and spreads the word on regenerative agriculture, carbon sequestration, hemp’s ability to remediate the soil, and more.

“The only way we make money is by helping people,” she asserts.

“That’s an evolution of business, making it meaningful. That goes every breath, every day, every way. We are so blessed.”

But to help more people, we need to help our planet. “We have to be conscientious consumers,” Tacy says – for her it’s a mandate, not just enthusiasm. “Put your money where your mind is. If you want a healthy environment, buy healthy food, support farmers. Everything we put in our body is either medicine or poison; there’s nothing else in between. Quit mowing your lawn… But it’s not the problem, it’s how we deal with it. Mother Nature is giving us a reason to unite. And when we come together for a purpose, that’s when change happens. That’s how hemp became legal and cannabis is becoming legal, how women got the right to vote. It’s time to raise our consciousness and come together.”

With Franny Tacy in charge, all the moving parts are coming together for a better world. And in her perpetual motion are more projects, product lines, new developments to be discovered – a force of nature, for good.

Learn more about regenerative agriculture and healing with hemp at frannysfarmacy.com.

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By Jaime Lubin What would the town of the future look like, if we could imagine it?

In a world beset by an ongoing pandemic, increasingly devastating climate change, and overwhelming social inequities, can we even begin to think of how we could improve? Well, thanks to the team at Balco Partners, an experiment to transform the Berkshires is taking place in real time.

“We’ve put together an international group of partners to deal with local issues that have international import,” says ecosystems entrepreneur Barbara “Bobbi” Koz Paley.

Paley is a co-founder of Balco Partners, a firm focused on pulling together talent to advance the health revolution through holistic approaches to wellness, economy, and environment. Paley’s legacy of using cultural events to pioneer messaging about racial and climate justice, which she has done as CEO of Art Assets and in numerous leadership roles in the cannabis industry, has been taken to the next level with a revolutionary enterprise in the Berkshires. Balco Partners and a cohort of innovators are cooperating on numerous initiatives to amplify the region’s dynamic nature. Berks Forward, their communications program, will help focus the area’s community voice around clean water, air and land development movements.

It’s time to recognize the Berkshires for what it is - a place where agriculture, commerce, culture, diversity and opportunity meet.

According to Paley, the thrust of the messaging will be equality.

“We have to have better economic systems, better healthcare, better access to clean food,” she says, noting that Berkshires residents have been cultivating the region’s distinctive culture and environmental practices for generations. Tremendous history lives in each part of the area, and from the local organizations who have been fighting General Electric’s pollution of the land, to the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) and other groups’ foundations for high-tech solutions to industry, it’s clear that there is fertile ground here, literally and figuratively, for new social and scientific advancements to sprout.

Balco Partners seeks to address immediate planetary and social equity issues in the Berkshires. Phase one: Plant Industrial Hemp on the region’s farmland, and use both the crop and “living soil” with regenerative agriculture practices to clean the land of toxins and reestablish healthy growing patterns. The plant’s soil remediation abilities will provide a huge boost to the Housatonic riverfront and surrounding communities, particularly aiding the struggle against PCB chemicals and other pollutants infecting the waterways and food production pathways.

“In the Berkshires, we have been using our rivers as toilets for effluents, PCBs, PFAs,” Paley states. “We need to have our river to swim and boat in [and] to build houses on… [The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Education have] innovation grants, so there’s a lot of money around the issue of re-education, of how we desecrated the land and how we’re going to clean it up, and how that cleanup impacts your ability to have clean food.”

One of Balco’s principals, Jon Jacobs, knows all about the links between healthy planet, healthy bodies, and economic advancement.

An attorney who served 27 years in the EPA’s Office of Enforcement, Jacobs is now co-founder and director of the nonprofit Climate Spheres,

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which utilizes technology to activate solutions to climate change. He sees the Industrial Hemp project as being helpful in phytoremediation and eventually a bridge to developing greater industrial applications in the Berkshires such as hempcrete for housing construction.

“We want to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, get to a net zero, if not a carbon negative location,” Jacobs explains. “But also work with the carbon markets, so that beneficial activities for climate change are financially rewarded and compensated. And that work, for example, will help farmers who have a vital role in our future, not just for food security but also the ability to sequester large amounts of carbon with better agricultural practices. It’s all tied together.”

Jacobs says the Balco team, in collaboration with BIC and other research organizations, is reviewing science behind Industrial Hemp’s ability to uptake heavy metals and chemicals from the soil. The process indicates that hemp can remove PCBs in similar fashion. “So instead of having to, say, remove the entire river bank along the Housatonic that’s contaminated… we can instead plant Industrial Hemp and be able to extract those contaminants and pollutants from the soil.”

Beyond Industrial Hemp, Balco will target the greater questions of uniting local organizations with larger movements through culture and economic development. To that end, they have brought on Lyfe Productives, a social marketing and product development firm that builds campaigns and programs to jumpstart activism across governments, universities, city planning and the community. Run by internationally recognized artist and Stanford University instructor Ise Lyfe, Lyfe Productives is developing Berks Forward as an approach to socioeconomic justice in the Berkshires, and numerous initiatives designed to give locals more agency in their everyday lives.

Lyfe describes his work as “ways to make things that are good and healthy for people, really provocative and dynamic in the way that folks are engaged. And so when I first started connecting with [Balco in developing Berks Forward], one thing that had a real appeal around it was how we could not only lead with [Industrial Hemp], but also ways to intersect environment, arts and culture to deal with the preservation of the history of the area, [and] bringing the… township in a very integral way into the future. I think that balance is really important in what we see developing for cities throughout the country… Cities are just larger reflections of the human experience, [and] our human experience is one that our present is impacted by what happened before and what we aim to have happen in the future.”

When Lyfe first arrived in the Berkshires, he was immediately interested in discovering what lay outside the region’s affluent enclaves. “It’s a misnomer that the Berks is… this white, wealthy monolith because that’s not true,” he says. “When we think about diversity, we often think only about race, but there’s also socioeconomic diversity… When we have a way to talk about the dynamic different ways that people

live and the different backstories that people have, I think we find that diversity is everywhere.”

Paley observes that the Berkshires is perfectly situated, with its proximity to major cities and towns in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, to be a center for clean industry and a tourist destination. Advanced technology as forged by BIC and fellow Berkshires-based organizations, “clean industry” that combines major ideas with services focused on small communities, and many assets unique to the area, are changing how the economy is run. It’s a ripple effect from the Berks to all the densely populated metropolises connecting to it.

“We need more accelerators,” Paley emphasizes in Balco’s plan to strengthen the area’s business reputation. “I want a food accelerator incubator at [the historic working farm] Hancock Shaker Village. We need a hospitality one [also]… and new technology for housing…

But we need a lot of different things to make this 3-million-person region very vibrant and an in-migration site.”

“Our whole crew is developing access and transportation, and bettering the way that people can move around in the region,” Lyfe mentions excitedly. “That will also impact people’s access to emergency transportation.”

Empowering people’s access to micro-mobility and all-income mobility will go a long way not just to improve economic equality, but to help engage them in the environmental conversation. Lyfe observes that Americans think of climate change as an “upper echelon” topic, but at the core it’s about identifying what the needs of various groups are and how we can trust each other to serve those needs.

“With both the pandemic and climate [change],” he adds, “other tragedies are coming into play… Everyone’s guilty of not fully embracing [their role in this]… As we look through the next 20 years of building an environment, building cities and towns through an environmental lens, we have the opportunity to foresee the potential for othering and blaming. [But we could come] to the table and deal with it in an equitable way… a smart way and in a way that was full of empathy and compassion… and with great courage, embrace the opportunities that come in this thing that we’re all obligated to participate in again.”

Increasing walkability, digital infrastructure and public art are Graphic © Fortuna Hemp

additional avenues that the Balco team, with Berks Forward, will use to revitalize the region. They also look forward to transforming the Berkshires’ abandoned mills into areas of production for cannabis companies and sites that fuse culture and wellness.

Paley outlines her call to action clearly: “One: Check out the Berks, because we are going to be the future of cannabis and wellness.

Two: We are the leading edge of Industrial Hemp remediation of all kinds. We’re very interested in helping everyone understand how living soil on their property can create a better health solution for... how they live, whether it’s their trees or their flowers, or their food that they grow and the same for farmers… We firmly believe that Hemp is an industrial tool that is going to help us as a new asset class [to] regenerate our land.”

And if this “centralized healing system” sees success, Balco aims to replicate it in other towns and regions across the world.

“It inures to the benefit of every person,” Paley concludes. “Every child, every animal, every living thing on this planet can be better if we begin the process of regeneration and giving everybody equity…

So join us and let’s all do our part!”

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