The storey of Weldon Angelos, an up-and-coming music musician who was nabbed in 2003 for selling undercover informants $900 worth of pot and ultimately sentenced to 55 years in prison, caught Bella Thorne’s attention. She immediately felt she had to get involved.
A nationwide campaign to secure Angelos’ release resulted in his release after 13 years in prison (and he was later pardoned by President Trump). Angelos now runs The Weldon Project, which is “dedicated to funding social change and financial aid for those who are still serving prison time for cannabis-related offences.” In addition, at this year’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, the 24-year-old actress lent her celebrity to a panel on cannabis clemency, where she spoke with Angelos and a number of other experts. She also urged her followers to sign a letter to President Biden urging him to “grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all persons subject to federal criminal or civil enforcement on the basis of non-violent marijuana offences.” A number of celebrities, including Drake, Meek Mill, Killer Mike, and Lil Baby, have also lent their support to the campaign.
The goal, adds Thorne, is “to get as many people to sign this letter as possible and make them a part of this movement.”
As well as acting in Measure of Revenge with Academy Award winner Melissa Leo and playing the lead in the Amazon Prime series Paradise City, Thorne has released a number of singles, written a series of young adult novels, launched her own cannabis line, Forbidden Flowers, and directed an adult-oriented pornographic film. In fact, an internet campaign to cast her as Lady Deadpool in the forthcoming superhero film Deadpool 3 has gained traction, and she has said that she is “so down” with the idea.
I got up with Thorne to talk about her cannabis clemency work, as well as a variety of other topics.
Describe your involvement with cannabis clemency and what you aim to achieve as a result of it.
I’ve been aware of this for a short period of time because I run a cannabis company and use cannabis—and because my closest friend Alexa works in the field of criminal-justice reform. When I first learned about The Weldon Project—and after hearing Weldon Angelos’ story—I thought to myself, “Holy sh*t.” This is really ridiculous. My belief was that it earned the attention that it was receiving, and I wanted to be a part of it.
What was it about it that struck a deep chord with you?
Everything, to be honest. The unfairness in and of itself is really disturbing. It’s disheartening to realise that, despite the fact that I consume cannabis and own a cannabis company, there are individuals whose life are still being ripped away from them and who are unable to get out of jail, despite the fact that cannabis is now legal in so many jurisdictions across the world. That makes me absolutely irrational. Your actions are robbing individuals of their lives and placing them in dangerous positions in their lives, so turning them into criminals. When they are released, what resources do you provide them to get back on their feet? Nothing. They just have a record at this point. Our system is not designed to help individuals get well or to rehab them; rather, it is designed to wreak havoc on our communities.
In fact, I’ve been smoking pot on and off since I was 13, and it’s always struck me as bizarre that alcohol is completely legal, even though it causes far more problems than weed, while marijuana has been criminalised and demonised, even though it simply makes you want to order a pizza and sit in front of the television.