Financial data and news company, Benzinga on Monday announced a partnership with the Last Prisoner Project (LPP) to help rebuild the lives of individuals affected by cannabis criminalization.
LPP is comprised of cannabis industry leaders, executives, and artists who are focused on helping the cannabis industry through restorative justice.
With a continued push for cannabis legalization across the United States, steps need to be taken in legal locales to ensure that people with past marijuana convictions do not continue to suffer the consequences of criminalization.
LPP says that they are dedicated to releasing cannabis prisoners and supporting them as they work on rebuilding their lives.
“Having been on the receiving end of police violence and systemic harassment many more times than anyone ever should, I have a very personal connection with the Last Prisoner Project and its mission,” says Benzinga Managing Director Javier Hasse.” I am immensely proud to work with a Company like Benzinga, which stands for these values that are so important to me and many others in the cannabis community—and extremely eager to work with LPP in advancing their objectives.”
LPP states that the organization uses a three-step approach to restorative justice in their communities that involves advocacy, intervention, and awareness campaigns to right the past wrongs and continuing harms of outdated and unjust laws and policies surrounding cannabis.
Benzinga’s Senior Vice President of Partnerships, Patrick Lane says that the cannabis industry and community are closely intertwined and that the only way to move forward is to give back and do right by those who have been unjustly affected by the drug war for years.
On October 15-16, Benzinga will be hosting a virtual Cannabis Capital Conference where, in addition to collecting donations for LPP, Benzinga will also be donating 5 percent of all ticket sales.
The Conference will feature a panel on social equity with LPP Policy Advisor and Director Natalie Papillion, provide opportunities to hear from top cannabis CEOs, and offer chances to find and grow new business enterprises.
LPP Managing Director, Mary Bailey says that the organization is grateful for Benzinga’s support and that their partnership will shine a light on the injustices suffered by cannabis prisoners, including the ones who are currently locked up during the global pandemic for a medicinal plant that is sold through businesses that have been deemed essential.
