Last Prisoner Project Calls on Lawmakers to Release Cannabis Inmates

Atlanta resident Richeda Ashmeade, a law student and poet, was 12 years old when her father was jailed on cannabis charges, sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 22 years.

It was difficult to grow up with a parent in prison, Ashmeade writes in a letter to President Joe Biden, noting that she’s beaten the odds by becoming “educated, ambitious and empathetic,” which she considers “an act of defiance” in the face of her circumstances.

Ashmeade stars in an emotional PSA from McCann New York, dubbed “The Pen to Right History,” that aims to pressure lawmakers and galvanize the public around criminal justice reform. In addition to her dad, Richardo Ashmeade, tens of thousands of Americans are locked up for nonviolent cannabis convictions. (Some estimates put the number at upward of 40,000.)

“The Pen to Right History” debuts alongside a similarly themed campaign from Ben & Jerry’s, which revives the brand’s clemency message from last spring and zeroes in on Michigan with a plea to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

“Legalization without justice is half-baked” uses a reference to the brand’s popular ice cream flavor to call for freeing cannabis inmates in that state and beyond.

“As legalization has swept across the nation, those convicted and incarcerated for cannabis possession are glaringly overlooked and continue to suffer from the long-term impacts of the war on drugs,” per the brand’s blog post.

Both campaigns note the systemic ills that put a disproportionate number of Black and brown Americans in jail for low-level weed offenses, with Ben & Jerry’s saying people of color are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for possession than white people.

Writing a wrong

In crafting the pro bono campaign for the Last Prisoner Project, creatives at McCann intentionally centered the hero video around a young woman rather than her jailed father, counter to many advocacy efforts that detail the prisoner’s arrest, sentencing and other details.

“Hearing about criminal justice reform from someone that’s been labeled a criminal can put the discussion on the back foot,” Shayne Millington, co-chief creative officer at McCann New York, told Adweek. “Hearing about it from a daughter who was forced to grow up without a father forces the realization that everyone close to the person incarcerated is a victim as well.”

The short film urges Biden and governors across the country to free cannabis inmates at a time when the fast-growing legal industry is expected to reach $32 billion in sales this year, per Brightfield Group.

“There’s an element of hypocrisy where people are making a lot of money from a plant for which thousands in the U.S. are currently in prison,” Millington told Adweek. “We felt we could help give those people a voice.”

Using letter writing as a framing device, with Ashmeade narrating the public-service announcement, the docu-style film symbolically passes the pen to Biden and other political leaders to “right an unaddressed wrong.”

The campaign launched this week in the run-up to 4/20, while visibility is strong around all things cannabis, but the message “would have been just as powerful if it came out five months ago,” Millington said.

The video asks the public to reach out to their elected officials, either in writing or by any other means, and pressure them to act. There’s also a dedicated website with more stories and experiences of families, friends and loved ones in parallel situations to the Ashmeades. 

“Unlike many issues in this country, this is a very solvable problem with a simple act—one signature,” Millington said. “And we wanted the solution to come from this country’s citizens.”

Executives at the nonprofit Last Prisoner Project, who have been working with McCann for about a year, say the majority of Americans support clemency in these cases.

Freeing those jailed “is not only a moral good that provides those unfairly incarcerated with a second chance and addresses the systemic racism that underpins many of these convictions, but it’s a practical win as well,” Sarah Gersten, executive director and general counsel, said in a statement. “It would reduce overcrowding in prisons and save taxpayer money.”

Half-baked policies

April 20, known as the Black Friday of weed for its record-breaking sales, has a well-earned reputation as a party holiday to those who celebrate. But it’s also gathered steam in recent years as an activist showcase. The fight to free those behind bars for minor weed crimes has been a focal point for many nonprofit groups and consumer brands.

Ben & Jerry’s, with a track record of activism in the space, recently hosted Michael Thompson on its podcast Into the Mix. Thompson served 25 years for a cannabis conviction, the longest sentence for a nonviolent drug charge in Michigan’s history. Gov. Whitmer signed the Clean Slate bill, granting clemency to Thompson in 2021.

Calling it an “important first step,” the brand asked Whitmer and other legislators to go further, using the power of commutation that can “untangle a complicated system.” 

The brand is supporting the effort with outdoor and mobile media buys near legislative offices in Ann Arbor and Lansing, along with giving consumers a digital link to contact their representatives via an autofill letter template.

Per its blog post: “Now is the time to address the racial inequities in cannabis criminalization by calling on Whitmer and all governors to grant widespread clemency for those still incarcerated for cannabis crimes.”