Los Angeles, CA – Beard Bros Pharms, a legacy brand and respected media outlet on the leading edge of the legal cannabis industry, is calling on President Joe Biden to grant a full pardon and release 56-year old Edwin Rubis from federal prison where he has served 27 years of a 40 year sentence after being convicted on non-violent cannabis related charges in the late 1990s.
With just over two months remaining until Election Day 2024, President Biden finds himself in a rare position of not running for a second term in office. The president has remained politically active, however, and many Washington D.C. watchdogs expect Biden to continue to use his bully pulpit now through November 5th, 2024, and beyond that until he relinquishes power on Inauguration Day 2025.
“January 20th is 141 days from now and President Biden’s legacy further erodes every one of those days that Edwin Rubis remains behind bars in federal prison for a non-violent cannabis crime committed nearly three decades ago. C’mon, Joe! Let’s get this man home,” says Bill Levers, co-founder of Beard Bros Pharms and COO of Freedom Grow.
President Biden has acknowledged “America’s failed approach to marijuana” but has so far failed to deliver on any meaningful reform. The Biden administration is touting their actions on October 6, 2022 when the president issued a general pardon for all previous crimes of simple cannabis possession in violation of federal law and the D.C. Code.
In January 2024, the president expanded the pardon to cover offenses for cannabis use and simple possession. All of the crimes mentioned are simple misdemeanors and these moves by the White House have led to zero pardons for federal inmates doing time for non-violent cannabis crimes.
Edwin Rubis is not the only prisoner who fits that description but his continued incarceration is a reminder of the half-steps taken by this administration when it comes to cannabis reform and his immediate release would signal the Democratic Party’s commitment to future criminal justice reform.
The fact of the matter is that this case isn’t about cannabis laws, then or now. It is about a man who has done over 26 years in federal prison and who, in a rare success story in such circumstances, has been reformed and truly deserves to have his freedom redeemed.
Having spent nearly half of his life locked up, often under inhumane conditions, Edwin Rubis has never given up hope, and he never gave up on himself. In his time behind bars, Rubis has successfully completed over 30 educational programs, earning three college degrees in the process including a Master’s degree in Christian Counseling.
As a son, a father, a brother, a human being, Edwin Rubis looks forward to putting his education and life experience to work as an author, life coach/guidance counselor, and public speaker upon his release. Every day he remains incarcerated just deepens the injustice of his sentence, and the Biden Administration’s silent complicity in it.
Since he is not seeking re-election, President Biden has just over two months until Election Day 2024, and just over four months until a new president is sworn in on Inauguration Day 2025, to right what he calls “historic wrongs” and grant Edwin Rubis a full presidential pardon.
According to the United States Sentencing Commission, the average sentence for offenders convicted of rape was 178 months in 2022, or just under 15 years. Edwin Rubis is in his 27th year behind bars for conspiracy and distribution charges surrounding a plant that is now a legal commodity in a majority of the country.
We can all agree that this makes no sense and we can all agree that it is long past time to set Edwin Rubis free.
“It is time for our president to take action. Rhetoric is no longer effective at this late stage of the game,” Rubis said in a January 2024 article in the New York Post.
Beard Bros Pharms will be utilizing its reach and influence in the cannabis space and beyond to apply political pressure on the Biden/Harris administration to focus prior and current efforts to free Edwin Rubis into one united push.
The call to action is the same for all of us. We must use our voices – individually and collectively – to impress upon this current administration the importance of fairness and freedom, and to ensure that they are encouraged (if not, forced) to acknowledge Edwin Rubis and his plight and consider the fact that criminal justice reform is not just a catchy political term, it is the only hope for countless forgotten American citizens like him.
Write to your state representatives in the House and Senate. Write to the White House. Do it once a week and see how good it makes you feel to do something for someone who has no chance without you. Your voice will join a full spectrum crop of voices branching out way beyond cannabis culture and calling on everyone who knows injustice when they see it and refuse to stand for it.
Please stay locked in to all Beard Bros Pharms and Beard Bros Media platforms and outlets for updates to this campaign to #FreeEdwinRubis
To learn more about Edwin Rubis or to help advocate for his immediate pardon and release please visit https://beardbrospharms.com/media-room-2/edwin-rubis/ or contact: freedomgrowforever88@gmail.com
You can donate directly to this cause HERE.
About Edwin Rubis
Edwin Rubis is serving a de facto life sentence in federal prison for conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana. Convicted in 1998, 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. We help cannabis prisoners regain freedom while we support their sacrifices through ’The Wish Program’. The Wish Program 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.
