Thousands of people convicted of nonviolent cannabis crimes are doing time in federal prisons. Edwin Rubis is a prime example having served 27 years so far on a 40 year sentence he was dealt in the 1990s. For Rubis, his only hope rests with a presidential clemency grant. It is time for President Biden to act.
Los Angeles, CA – On March 24th, 2024, the Biden Administration released a statement regarding presidential pardons that saw clemency granted to 11 individuals, five of whom were incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses. The final line of that statement reads, “While today’s announcement marks important and continued progress, my Administration will continue to review clemency petitions and deliver reforms in a manner that advances equal justice, supports rehabilitation and reentry, and provides meaningful second chances.”
This echoes the opening line of, “America is a Nation founded on the promise of second chances.” The fact remains that President Biden still has not released a single cannabis prisoner via commutation. Not one.
It also echoes recently released recordings from meetings in the Nixon White House in 1973 where the then-president says, “Penalties should be commensurate with the crime,” regarding cannabis enforcement, calling a 30-year sentence in such a case “ridiculous.” The fact remains that this private revelation doesn’t match up with Nixon’s vociferous support for public legislation that ultimately created the War on Drugs and the Controlled Substances Act. The incredibly negative impact of that ideology is Richard Nixon’s legacy.
To show a clear example of the value of rehabilitation and reentry, to live up to the promise of second chances, and for an opportunity to display and dispense equal justice and end this hypocrisy once and for all, President Biden must grant clemency to Edwin Rubis and all nonviolent cannabis prisoners before leaving office.
In less than four years, the Biden Administration has already denied over 7,900 clemency petitions and has dismissed over 9,000 more without taking presidential action. Less than 150 petitions have resulted in clemency being granted, just 1.4% of the total submitted so far.
“Sending people to jail for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives – for conduct that is legal in many states,” President Biden stated on October 6th, 2022, adding, “That’s before you address the clear racial disparities around prosecution and conviction. Today, we begin to right these wrongs.”
As we approach the two-year anniversary of that inspiring but so far hollow message, now is the time for President Biden to live up to those words and he can start with Edwin Rubis, as a child a Salvadoran immigrant whose family found a new life in the United States, and as a man is a reformed prisoner with three college degrees, a record reflecting nothing but good behavior behind bars, and a desire to help others.
Today’s emerging and existing regulated cannabis markets span from coast to coast and they all implement some form of social equity program in acknowledgement of the biases of law enforcement in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s that led to so many people of color, like Rubis, to face drastic sentencing that President Nixon himself referred to as “ridiculous” decades earlier. What Rubis was convicted of in 1998, and has been in prison for ever since, would fall under a “Distribution” license in multibillion dollar regulated cannabis markets across the country today.
Though Rubis himself was never caught with any large quantities of cash or cannabis, his alleged involvement in a multi-year cannabis trafficking ring led to federal prosecutors pinning the transport of over 8,000 pounds of weed on Rubis as each of his co-defendants took plea deals. Just as licensed cannabis brands transport trucks and vans of product around today without disrupting society, even in the 1990’s what Rubis was convicted of was not only a nonviolent crime, but also a victimless crime.
His conviction and subsequent sentencing underscore the old adage that the only dangerous thing about marijuana is getting caught with it.
“Times have certainly changed since Edwin Rubis went to prison. Today you can be convicted of dozens of felonies and still run for president. The fact that Edwin Rubis has spent 27 years behind bars on a cannabis trafficking conviction is not only ‘ridiculous’ as President Nixon put it in 1973, or ‘wrong’ as President Biden put it in 2022, or ‘absurd’ as the Democratic Presidential Nominee and current Vice President Kamala Harris put it in 2024, it is hypocritically unjust and harmful for thousands of cannabis prisoners and their families,” says Bill Levers, co-founder of Beard Bros Media and COO of the non-profit prisoner advocacy group Freedom Grow.
“We talk about ‘legacy’ a lot in legal cannabis markets but it is important in politics as well,” says Levers, “President Biden’s legacy is still being crafted and granting presidential pardons to nonviolent cannabis prisoners will have a positive generational impact. Come on, Joe! Do the right thing and free Edwin Rubis… free them all.”
A report released in 2020 included an ACLU poll of over 1,300 registered voters which revealed that 84% of those polled said they support releasing prisoners serving time for crimes that are not illegal under current laws. These results largely ignored party lines with 86% of Democrats polled, 81% of Independents polled, and 73% of Repulbicans polled being in favor of the scenario posed above. Perhaps most consequentially, 69% of those voters polled said they would be “more likely to vote for an elected leader who supports a plan to consider the release of certain individuals from prison.”
Your move, Mr. President.
Learn more at https://beardbrospharms.com/media-room-2/edwin-rubis/ or contact: info@freedomgrow.org
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About Edwin Rubis
Edwin Rubis is serving a 40 year sentence in federal prison for conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana. Convicted in 1998 on these nonviolent charges, Edwin has watched from behind bars as states have continued to legalize cannabis for recreational use and reap the benefits.
About Beard Bros Pharms
Beard Bros Pharms is an award-winning multinational cannabis brand. They also provide industry information, insights, and guidance to cannabis professionals and consumers via beardbrospharms.com, their weekly newsletters, and social media presence. With over two decades of cannabis production and grassroots advocacy and activism, Beard Bros combines deep legacy cannabis experience with a commitment to quality and justice.
About Freedom Grow
Freedom Grow is an all-volunteer non-profit 501c3 organization helping cannabis prisoners regain freedom while supporting their sacrifices through ’The Wish Program’ which helps prisoners with commissary money, books, magazines, family outreach, and public education.
This news article contains the opinion of Bill Levers and Beard Bros Pharms, and while subjective, the facts of the story do not intend to present false or misleading information on the convicted individual or the legal matter and facts herein.
