Life In Prison Over Marijuana Charges Is Sad. Happy 4/20
I’m not trying to be a buzzkill. It’s 4/20 and some consider that a national holiday. You may be stressed and still searching for answers in isolation, so cannabis might be helping you push through.
I was going to tell you about the time Puff passed me a blunt while watching an early screening of Training Day. Although that story is high on the humor meter it’s trivial right now. Instead, I’d rather tell you about a guy named Corvain Cooper. Mr. Cooper is serving a life sentence after being convicted of money laundering, tax evasion and conspiracy to sell more than one ton of marijuana.
Cooper isn’t a saint: His lawyer claims he was, at most, a middle man in a marijuana pipeline that ran from California to North Carolina. Here’s where the penalty starts to look outsized, though. Despite President Barack Obama sending word to DAs that non-violent third strikes should be given leniency, Cooper received the maximum.
Cooper is one of many Black men who find themselves in prison over a drug that is now fully legal in 11 states (the drug is legal for medical use in 33 states). His lawyer, who is lending his services pro bono, is hoping that (gulp) Donald Trump comes to Cooper’s rescue with clemency.
I called a friend whose edible cannabis business is doing very well, especially during quarantine. She’s making upwards of 10X what she was taking in before COVID-19. We talked about how the product that powers her business has destroyed the lives of many black men. She agreed and told me about bringing as many as 40 packages of THC-infused desserts to the post office at a time. She sees the postal police in their gray Chargers, but they never pull her aside. Maybe it’s her angel vibes. Or, she offers, her white skin.
Our Sunday conversation ran long. She’s aware of the role her privilege pays in her profession. Her sentiment summed it up nicely: “This country was built on the backs of Black people, and now the Cannabis industry is seeing the same trend.”
I don’t know Corvain Cooper, his mother, two daughters or any of his friends. But I imagine 4/20 hits a bit differently for them — and others sitting in a cell over marijuana violations. Their lives have gone up in smoke.
Jermaine Hall, Editor in Chief
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