A 4/20 press conference calling for an end to cannabis prohibition and incarceration

Monday, April 20, 10:00 AM U.S. Congress-House Triangle

Register to Attend or Apply to Speak

On April 20th, while much of the country celebrates the symbolism of cannabis reform, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) will gather at the House Triangle to deliver a stark and urgent truth: the War on Cannabis is not over.

Nearly 3,000 people remain behind bars in federal prison for cannabis-related offenses, many serving extreme, outdated sentences imposed under mandatory minimums and conspiracy laws. At the same time, enforcement continues across the country. Hundreds of thousands of people are still arrested for marijuana each year—overwhelmingly for simple possession—ensuring that the cycle of harm, incarceration, and stigma continues.

These are not relics of a past era. This is happening now.

This press conference—held just hours before Stolen Time: The Human Cost of Cannabis Prohibition, a congressional briefing hosted by SSDP—will bring together directly impacted individuals, advocates, and national leaders to expose the ongoing human cost of federal cannabis prohibition. It will center the voices of those who have lost years, decades, and in some cases entire lifetimes to a policy regime that continues to criminalize conduct now legal in much of the United States.

Speakers will include individuals featured in the “Stolen Time” Congressional Briefing—men who survived decades-long cannabis sentences and are now leading the fight for justice—alongside additional voices of those directly impacted by cannabis criminalization. Together, they will speak not only to what was taken from them, but to what is still being taken from others every single day.

This moment demands more than reflection—it demands action.

SSDP and its partners are calling on Congress and the Administration to fully end federal cannabis prohibition, halt arrests, release all individuals currently incarcerated for cannabis offenses, and ensure that those harmed by prohibition have the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity.

On April 20th, we gather not to celebrate, but to demand an end to stolen time.

Because legalization without justice is not justice.
Because reform without release is not reform.
And, because no one should lose their future for cannabis.