‘Legalization without justice is half baked’ Ben & Jerry’s says in message to Gov. Whitmer
The ice cream company took out a Lansing billboard urging clemency for cannabis convictions following conversation with Michael Thompson
You may have spent 4/20 getting baked and eating Detroit-style pizza, but Ben & Jerry’s used the holiday to address something more serious.
The Vermont-based ice cream company took out a billboard in Lansing calling out the hypocrisy of having legal cannabis in Michigan while people are still serving time for marijuana-related offenses.
“Governor Whitmer: legalization without justice is half baked. Grant cannabis clemency now!” the billboard near the Michigan State Capitol reads.
The campaign is calling on Whitmer to grant clemency for cannabis convictions under the clean slate bill she signed in 2021. The bill made way for the removal of cannabis convictions and other misdemeanors from Michigan residents’ records.
Whitmer used the bill to commute the sentence of Michael Thompson, who has become a poster child for the devastating effects of the war on drugs. The Flint native was released in 2021 after spending 25 years behind bars for selling three pounds of weed to a police informant. His sentence was the longest served for a nonviolent drug charge in Michigan’s history.