Pelletier’s run-in with marijuana began when he was 14 and started treating his physical and psychological symptoms of his paraplegia with the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. Prosecutors and press reports that came out around the time of his arrest made him out to be a kingpin in a drug ring that was making billions of dollars, but the case was vastly exaggerated. Michael Pelletier is also sitting in federal prison serving a sentence of life without parole – and has been a wheelchair-bound paraplegic since the age of 11. Michael Pelletier (Pardoned by Donald Trump) Update 2021: John Knock has been pardoned by Donald Trump. President Obama denied John Knock’s petition for clemency. Knock remains in prison, despite the fact that he never received violent charges. John Knock elected to go to trial and received 2 life terms plus 20. When he arrived on US soil there was a superseding indictment that violated the extradition agreement. The French put stipulations on his extradition that he would not be prosecuted for anything prior to 1986. Knock was arrested in France on a US warrant and was extradited to the US in 1999. His friends continued to import even though the laws around him were changing. In the late ‘80s, he withdrew from the conspiracy and started focusing all of his time on his family. John Knock became involved in the lifestyle of California recreation in the ‘60s when he initially moved there, eventually working at a farm and learning how to grow cannabis. Because of the absurdity of the situation, his sister Beth Curtis started the website Life for Pot, profiling inmates who have been placed in prison with life sentences for the same types of crimes. In fact, the charges were so severe that he received two life sentences plus twenty years for a first-time offender, which his family found to be outrageous. John Knock found out that his life would be forever changed when he received life for a nonviolent cannabis conspiracy. Today we want to focus on their stories and call attention to reform and the changes that need to take place in our states so that many families can return to their normal, everyday lives. These nonviolent offenders have been removed from society and have been sentenced to life without parole due to the laws under the federal system. Virtually all individuals serving life sentences for marijuana were charged with conspiracy and elected to exercise their sixth amendment right to trial. People charged federally can still receive sentences of life without parole. Many of these marijuana charges resulted in sentences before marijuana became legal and state laws were eventually loosened. However, with some research, you can find that some people continue to serve life sentences across the country for marijuana charges. Today, more than twenty states have legalized marijuana in some form or another, with marijuana becoming a consumer product in some states with billions in sales. *Special thanks to Beth Curtis of Life for Pot for her help in putting this list together.
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