Michigan’s cannabis market was booming in 2020, as medical and adult-use dispensaries combined to haul in a whopping $984.7 million in state-legal sales. Overall, more than 800,000 pounds of cannabis products were sold, according to Michigan’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency.

During that time, Michael Thompson was behind bars serving a 40-year minimum sentence handed down in 1996—the longest sentence for a non-violent offender in state history. His crime? Selling 3 pounds of cannabis to an undercover informant in 1994.

Thompson faced the possibility of up to 60 years in prison for gun possession that arose from his cannabis arrest. He was not carrying a gun on his person when he was selling cannabis, but police found guns at his house afterward—one was an antique and another was his wife’s gun, according to Grassroots Law Project.

During his time locked up, he lost his mother, father and only son from the confines of his cell.

As the state-legal cannabis space rapidly expanded, Thompson became emblematic of the deep wounds inflicted by prohibition—and the lasting impact of the war on drugs’ nefarious legacy, Digital Editor Eric Sandy wrote this week.

In January 2021, Thompson, 69, was released from prison after serving more than a quarter century behind bars. In an interview with a local Fox News TV station after his release, Thompson said, “I wasn’t a bad guy like they were trying to make it. All I did was 3 pounds of marijuana. Who did that hurt? I didn’t kill no one.”

While Thompson’s sentence was the longest for a non-violent offender in Michigan history, his story is just one of many.

On June 19, the trailer for “The Sentence of Michael Thompson” was released. The documentary covers his story and the broader implications of cannabis reform with regard to the criminal justice system. It was underwritten and supported by Cresco Labs, which is embarking now on its Summer of Social Justice initiative geared in part toward restorative justice.

In the documentary’s trailer, Thompson’s daughter, Rashawnda Littles, 48, said, “It makes me mad as hell. My father’s sitting behind the bars for marijuana. Everybody around Michigan [is] freely smoking.”

While Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer granted Thompson clemency after reviewing his case in December, other avenues are available for the release of non-violent offenders. The First Step Act of 2018 includes a sentencing reform component for certain drug offenders, allowing for federal judges to review unduly harsh sentences. In addition, the act modifies mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenders and reduces life-in-prison mandatory minimums.

According to Prison Policy Initiative data, more than one in five prisoners in the world are incarcerated in the U.S., yet the U.S. accounts for less than 5% of the world population. Locking up non-violent drug offenders with mandatory minimums and unduly harsh sentences contributes to those incarceration disparities.

-Tony Lange, Associate Editor