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Exclusive: A coalition of sports stars and celebrities sent a letter to the White House, urging President Donald Trump to enact it Cannabis reform.
This group has been headlined by boxing legends Mike TysonNBA superstar Kevin Durant, former NBA star Allen Iverson, former boxer Roy Jones Jr., former Dallas Cowboys star Dez Bryant, former NFL star Antonio Brown, and former NFL player and well-known cannabis advocate Ricky Williams.
Williams’ name appears twice on the signer list.
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Kevin Durant is watching an NBA basketball game. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez,)
The group is labelled “a coalition of athletes and entertainers supporting President Trump’s policy goals.”
The letter highlights three key points in the proposed reform. It is lenient towards “non-violent” marijuana crimes, helping to reschedule marijuana, and ending “discriminatory banking.”
The first point of the letter points to Trump’s previous pardon of music producer Weldon Angelos, who was sentenced to 55 years in November 2004 for marijuana accusations. Angelos was released in 2016 and was then forgiven by Trump in December 2020. The letter criticized former President Joe Biden for his lack of action to address marijuana-related incarceration.
“Today, people are now serving long federal prisons for acts that are legal in most states, which are absurd and unjustified, continuing incarceration. After cleaning up voters in 2020, former President Biden failed to fulfill his pledge to address marijuana-related fraud. Marijuana-related tolerance application,” the letter states.
“We believe this betrayal merely highlights the urgent need for bold leadership, and represents an opportunity to correct the obvious disparities as part of the administration’s ongoing push for criminal justice reform.”
The second point in the letter encourages Trump to reclassify drugs from Schedule I substances to Schedule III. The differences in each schedule determined by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) determine how drugs are viewed in terms of abuse and potential medical applications.
Medical use is not accepted in the US because Schedule I substances are likely to be abused. It is also likely to be severely psychological and/or physically dependent.
Schedule III substances accept medical use in the United States when there is a moderate to low likelihood of physical and psychological dependence compared to Schedule I and II drugs.
“Current classification of marijuana As a schedule, I am scientifically outdated, economically harmful, and at odds with modern medical understandings. “The letter states: “Rescheduling marijuana harmonizes federal law with state policies, fosters innovation, fosters research and fosters economic growth.”
The final point in the letter opposes “discriminatory banking” points to Trump’s opposition to previous US initiatives called “Operation Chalk Points.” This examined businesses they did with banks and firearm dealers, payday lenders, and other companies.
The group claimed that the marijuana business was affected by its initiative and other banking operations.
“State cannabis operators, including many of us, are also unfairly denied banking services despite their full compliance with state law,” the letter read. “Even though it operates legally in 40 states, employs more than 450,000 Americans and generates more than $35 billion a year, these companies face unfair barriers to banking services, and employees struggle to get mortgages from traditional lenders.
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Marijuana plants will be found on May 12, 2023 at a growth facility in Washington County, New York. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
Additionally, while cannabis companies are unable to receive standard business deductions, often leading to effective tax rates above 85%, foreign cannabis companies benefit from a list of US exchanges such as NYSE and NASDAQ. American cannabis operators are unfairly ruled out.
Other numbers listed in the letter to the White House include former NBA players Stephen Jackson, Chris Weber, Junior Smith, John Salley, Al Harrington, former NFL players Jim McMahon, Kyle Turley, Champion Bailey, Marvin Washington, Tony Richardson, former boxers Boyd Melson, Paul Willias and Keith Turmon.
The letter entertainment figures are streamer Adin Ross, rappers Lil Pump and Ralo, and musician Wyclef.
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