Elizabeth Holmes should be glad she wasn’t arrested for marijuana

Silicon Valley darling Elizabeth Holmes founded Theranos, a skyrocketing startup that she believed would revolutionize blood testing. Holmes raised $945 million from high-profile investors including the family of former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Rupert Murdoch and the Walmart family Walton. The troubles begin with a much-vaunted partnership with Walgreens that ultimately leads to the revelation that the company never did what it said it would. Holmes first said she was innocent, then she explained she was just a pawn, my COO made her break the law. After her sentencing, she said she would have a hard time going to jail because she now volunteered and has children. In collaboration with The New York Times, she expressed that she wants to leave it all behind, follow Liz and just get on with her life. The New York Times urged people to “get her” and understand that it was time to just move on.

The federal government disagrees and faces a prison sentence. Well, a kind of prison. She comes to Federal Camp Prison (FCP) Bryan, one of the best prisons for serving sentences.

Elizabeth or Liz should be thankful that she has scammed billions and endangered people’s lives. Imagine if she was caught with marijuana. Drug possession is still the number one reason for arrests. Most arrests were for drugs (estimated 1,552,432 arrests), followed by drink driving (estimated 1,282,957). In March 2021, statisticians from the BJS has released a new report Based on 2018 data, about 32,000 people are in prison for marijuana.

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In all states, even those that have legalized marijuana, black people are still more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession.

Just over two-thirds (70.1%) received prison sentences; the average sentence was five months. The majority are being served in local jails rather than in prison. The local prisons have few training facilities, are overcrowded and have poor catering facilities.

Holmes’ potential new home is FPC Bryan, which offers a wide range of recreational activities, including organized and unorganized games such as table tennis. Other recreational activities include a physical fitness gym, music programs, internal activities, and social and cultural activities. There are also art and hobby craft classes.

Photo by FatCamera/Getty Images

The Last Prisoner Project states: “Imagine sitting in a cell for years, decades, even life, being convicted of an activity that is no longer a crime, while thousands of other people are doing the exact same thing spanning generations build up. Your goal is to change the system. Holmes’ partner and father of her children is a hotel heir. Your family is part of the private aircraft group and most likely your grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. Many arrested for drug possession as young as 22 spend their lives making a living.

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According to the Pew Research Center, a staggering 88% of US adults say marijuana should be legal for either medical and adult recreational use (59%) or that it should be legal for medical use only (30%). Just one in ten respondents (10%) say marijuana use shouldn’t be legal. And yet people are arrested every day. Something has to change.