Major Coalition Of Marijuana Groups Announces Week-Long Push In DC For Legalization And Clemency Under Trump Admin

Marijuana advocacy groups and industry stakeholders will be staging another demonstration in Washington, D.C. this spring to show support for federal legalization at a time of significant uncertainty about what might be achievable under the GOP-controlled Congress and White House.

Led by the Last Prisoner Project (LPP), the Cannabis Unity Week of Action will take place from April 28-May 1, bringing together a diverse coalition to “unite advocates, impacted individuals, and industry leaders to pressure Congress and the Trump administration to fully legalize cannabis and implement retroactive relief measures for those affected by prohibition-era policies.”

The week-long event will involve educational outreach, press conferences featuring congressional allies in the reform movement and “an action outside the White House to honor those still incarcerated for cannabis and demand their freedom via presidential clemency.”

“The week will start on Monday with the National Cannabis Festival’s Policy Summit at the MLK Library to educate attendees on the policies currently before Congress. Tuesday will begin with a congressional press conference in the morning followed by a welcome ceremony in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center starting at 2pm. Wednesday will be dedicated to our Lobby Day where attendees will meet with their elected officials on Capitol Hill to advocate for cannabis reform. Lastly, events will conclude Thursday evening with an action outside the White House to honor those still incarcerated for cannabis and demand their freedom via presidential clemency.”

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who recently became a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, also commented on the event, saying it’s “beyond time to legalize cannabis nationwide and expunge records for those incarcerated for cannabis-related offenses,

“I’m incredibly grateful for the partnership of the members of the Cannabis Unity Coalition and look forward to working together to get this done,” she said.

We’re excited to announce #CannabisUnityWeek, coming to Washington D.C. from April 28-May 1st!

Read more here: https://t.co/rtxcn7vjLx pic.twitter.com/IChtIfQIYE

— Last Prisoner Project (@lastprisonerprj) February 26, 2025

Beyond LPP, participating organizations include the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), NORML, Veterans Cannabis Coalition (VCC), Parabola Center, Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) and more.

“Cannabis prohibition has devastated countless lives and disproportionately impacted communities of color,” Sarah Gersten, executive director of LPP, said. “We must ensure that justice for those still incarcerated for cannabis-related offenses is part of legalization.”

“Cannabis Unity Week represents a powerful opportunity to unite advocates, industry leaders, and impacted families to demand comprehensive reform, including retroactive relief and clemency,” she said.

Last year, LPP helped organize a coalition event in D.C. around the cannabis holiday 4/20.

Weldon Angelos, founder of The Weldon Project & Mission Green who received a presidential pardon for a marijuana-related offense under the first Trump administration, said in the new LPP announcement that “prohibition has destroyed lives, torn families apart, and fueled mass incarceration.”

“We must fully repeal prohibition, expunge records, and free those still behind bars,” he said.

Kat Murti, executive director of SSDP, stressed that “it is not enough to simply treat the symptoms of bad cannabis policy; we must fix the problem at its root cause.”

“We can start by stopping arrests today, by releasing all cannabis prisoners and removing the significant barriers to their successful reintegration into our society, and by ending marijuana prohibition once and for all,” she said. “Young people have always been some of the biggest casualties of the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs is a War on Us and we will no longer stand by passively and allow it to be fought in our name.”

LPP said that, for anyone who’s unable to attend the D.C. event, they can “participate virtually” by reaching out to their congressional representatives and urging them to support an end to cannabis criminalization. The organization also recommended that people contact their governors and urge them to “grant clemency to those in your state.”

What the 4/20 season looks like this year in terms of federal policy developments remains to be seen, adding urgency to advocates’ and stakeholders’ pressure campaign.

With Republicans in control of both the House and Senate, as well as the White House, the idea that the walls around federal prohibition will fall in the 119th Congress seems dubious. However, there’s still some hope among industry players that the winds could shift in their favor given President Donald Trump’s endorsement of cannabis business banking access, rescheduling and state-level legalization on the campaign trail.

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In the meantime, a key GOP congressman filed a bill this month that would continue to block marijuana businesses from taking federal tax deductions under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code 280E, even if cannabis is federally rescheduled. And his unique influence on a powerful committee could grease the wheels to its enactment through must-pass budget legislation.

Text of the standalone bill isn’t available yet, but it has the same short title as a Senate measure from Sens. James Lankford (R-OK) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) that’s called the “No Deductions for Marijuana Businesses Act.”

Meanwhile, another GOP congressman, Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), recently introduced a different bill aimed at providing military veterans with access to medical marijuana.

Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) has separately filed a proposal seeking to protect military veterans from losing government benefits for using medical cannabis in compliance with state law.

Advocates and stakeholders are also awaiting the reintroduction of another bipartisan proposal that would protect banks from being penalized by federal regulars simply for working with state-legal cannabis businesses.

The GOP House sponsor of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act will be filing it again this year, but a spokesperson for his office told Marijuana Moment last month that the introduction is “not imminent” as some recent reports have suggested.

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