Two Former Cannabis Prisoners Take On Criminal Justice Reform

Luke Scarmazzo is finally home.

After years of working toward his request for clemency, being a hair away from freedom, and watching his presidential pardon fall through the cracks post-inauguration in 2021, the last known federal medical cannabis offender in California walked out of a Mississippi FCI prison on compassionate release.

This was a big win for not only Luke, but for non-violent cannabis offenders around the country. One week after his release, he and Weldon Angelos, an activist and former offender who served seven years alongside Luke, feature as guests on The Plant Lady to talk about advocacy, policymaking, and what's changed in the last 14 years since he's been on the outside. They also dive into new developments in Weldon's initiative, Mission Green, which fights for criminal justice reform for those affected by the War on Drugs.

In 2004, Luke owned and operated California Healthcare Collective medical cannabis dispensary in Modesto with his business partner, Ricardo Montes. Though their business was legal under CA Proposition 215—which legalized medical cultivation, sales, and consumption in the state—cannabis remained illegal under federal law.

"We didn't feel like what we did was wrong," Luke says in the episode. "We felt like we were following state law, paying our taxes, we had a license from the city, a license from the state–you know, we were checking all the boxes."

About 1.5 years later, the Drug Enforcement Administration raided the dispensary and arrested Luke and Ricardo on identical charges. They were each sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.

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