Mike Tyson pleads with Trump to deliver on cannabis reform: 'IT'S DONE SO MUCH FOR ME'
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Mike Tyson is one of many athletes who are pushing for cannabis reform in the United States, and is hoping President Donald Trump will pick up where his predecessor, Joe Biden, left off.
The Coalition of Athletes and Entertainers Supporting President Trump’s Policy Objectives, which also includes NBA star Kevin Durant and former NFL star Dez Bryant, penned a letter to the White House in an effort to “address marijuana-related injustices.”
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According to Marijuana Moment, the letter mentions three main points in their proposed reform: Clemency for “nonviolent” marijuana offences, chancing the drug’s current classification from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III substance, and ending “discriminatory banking practices.”
Tyson appeared on Fox & Friends on Monday, where he told the hosts: “Cannabis is in the same category as heroin. How do you categorize it with heroin? Anybody that would smoke cannabis knows there’s no comparison, and that’s just ridiculous.”
The boxing legend explained that the group wants to “open up” safe banking for those in the cannabis industry who are currently unable to get loans.
“There’s over 500,000 people that can’t get loans because they’re in the cannabis business alone and that’s just so ridiculous,” he said, noting how it’s such a great income for the country.”
Tyson went on to explain how he has used cannabis as medicine, and how it’s made such improvements in his life.
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“I could not live, I was going crazy without cannabis. I was just going absolutely mad, fighting people in the street, giving wild responses back to people who said, ‘Can I help you?’” Tyson detailed.
“And then it’s done so much for me,” the 59-year-old continued.
“It’s given me a new life, so to speak … all the reckless trouble I was getting into [as a kid], that’s not happening now as an adult.”
The letter from the fleet of athletes and entertainers slammed Biden for failing to take action against those who are behind bars for crimes associated with the substance.
“After making sweeping promises to voters in 2020, former President Biden failed to deliver on his pledge to address marijuana-related injustices,” the letter states.
“Not only did he leave office without commuting the sentences of those incarcerated for marijuana, but in one of his final acts, he denied nearly every pending marijuana-related clemency application,” it notes.
“This betrayal only underscores the urgent need for bold leadership, we believe, and represents an opportunity to correct glaring disparities as part of your [the Trump] Administration’s ongoing push for criminal justice reform.”
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