Navy vet seeks clemency from New Jersey governor over weed allegations and delayed cannabis career
Shortly after winning the 2017 New Jersey gubernatorial race, Governor Phil Murphy pledged to sign legislation legalizing cannabis within approximately 100 days of his inauguration. Gov. Murphy finally got around to signing a weed bill into law in February 2021, more than four years after he promised voters.
16-year-old US Navy and Marine veteran Mario Ramos traveled from New York to the Garden State in 2017 in anticipation of the green rush. “[Gov.]Murphy was screaming that it would be legal in about 90 days,” Ramos recalled on a November 2021 call with Leafly. “I was working for High Times Magazine at the time. I took over the event coordination, [and] I would take photos of new grow rooms.”
While visiting a facility about a story he was covering, Mario became part of a local investigation. “I guess they’ve already been observed,” he said.
Mario was there when authorities searched the facility. He was one of eight people arrested after exiting the building. At one point, he even faced a life sentence simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A trophy for law enforcement
Mario was the only one of those arrested that night who was seriously threatened with time. “I learned the hard way that this county prosecutes black and brown men (up to) 22 times more than any other county in Jersey,” he said of Morris County, where he was arrested.
He says the numbers are no exaggeration: “I was inside. So I saw it myself.”
“The first sentence they gave me, they tried to say life in prison. Then they lowered it. They lowered it to 25. Then from 25 to 15. The lawyers fought. A lot of people, like Last Prisoner Project, came to the rescue.”
Mario Ramos
As a young man in 1980s New York, Mario survived the drug war by immersing himself in the various creative elements of hip-hop. Graffiti and breakdance crews protected him from the vicious drug wars that were sweeping many cities at the time. “I’ve been to over 50 galleries,” he says of his art career. “I was lucky enough to paint with the best graffiti artists.”
However, the violence, poverty and social injustices of the drug war weighed heavily on him and his fellow survivors then as now. “I also believe that (weed) saved my life,” he said. “Because there were a lot of other drugs in there.”
He noted that many of the men he met in the military from similar backgrounds were using cannabis as a medicine long before they came on duty. “I had PTSD before I went into the military,” says Ramos.
Before and after duty, he says other vets keep thinking about how much they miss Mary Jane on duty. “You hear it a lot,” he recalls of military friends’ grass war stories. “I’ll go back and smoke. When I get home I can’t wait to do it… It helps a lot of people. Like I said, I always felt like it was medicine for me.”
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The Garden State’s ongoing weed problem
Mario moved to New Jersey as soon as medical and recreational cannabis appeared on the legal horizon. He ran a cannabis company called I Bud since 2011. So how did the Bronx native end up serving decades in the Morris County jail for a near-legal plant?
Morristown in Morris County is notorious for unfair policing. In 2020, the lone black officer in Hanover left the department for racial harassment. Although cannabis legislation passed with flying colors in statewide elections, many municipalities ban legal cannabis companies from opening stores in their cities with the motto “Not in my backyard.”
Overall, the state is known for being economically and racially diverse. But most communities and schools are highly segregated. Mario learned this dynamic the hard way, from the wrath of Morris County’s unjust marijuana enforcement.
“Because I was in High Times Magazine, this district felt like it had found a trophy. I had a California license on me, (so) they said I was a flight hazard… They just don’t believe it. I think, I think every day, they’re just gonna let me go. Like, oh, they saw they made a mistake.”
Once booked, the true weight of his charges hit him. “I was the only one there for cannabis. All [inside] couldn’t believe I was in there for weed.” A number of organizations and attorneys stepped in to secure his release, but without a word from Governor Murphy, he still can’t be stripped of his legal baggage.
Now that he’s out, Mario fights for those still stuck behind enemy lines. “There are still 40,000 people in prison for cannabis. And you know what, that could happen to anyone,” he warns.
Awaiting action from the governor
Earlier this month, the Last Prisoner Project sent a letter to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy calling for clemency for residents like Mario. In the letter, NJ advocates and influencers like rapper Redman said it was time for immediate action on behalf of those remaining enmeshed in the state’s penal system.
“I always had my weed and I learned how to grow it very early on,” Mario recalls. “I fell in love with High Times Magazine. They taught you how to do it. And I was fortunate, you know, to end up working with them and everything. And so, yeah, it was like a big trip there.”
Everything was snatched from him overnight and he continues to bear the costs. “There are people who are making millions of dollars right now. on cannabis,” laments Mario. Some state supervisors cannot believe his predicament. “But the public prosecutor’s office doesn’t see it that way,” he says sadly. “It’s like another notch on her belt.”
The luckiest thing about Mario’s situation is that his support system has been strong throughout the ordeal.
“My family always knew what I was doing,” he says. “They knew I worked for High Times and everything. When it happened, they said, “Whoa, what happened?” They’re in shock. But I was so glad they already knew about it.”
Being a veteran helped his case in court, but two parking tickets for cannabis possession in California and Florida in 2010 and 2011 hurt Mario’s case.
“I’m under supervision for about 18 months,” he said in November. “They call it prison without walls, (but) I’m glad to be in this program and not behind bars, you know?”
Related
The History of Cannabis Prohibition in the United States
Mario’s vision for a greener future
Though Mario’s inroads into weed increased, he wants to start his legal empire with a pharmacy. “I’m going to open my own pharmacy,” he told Leafly. “You give me the license. They say because of everything that’s happened to me, I’m one of the first people they might give the license to. The license comes with a smoking lounge and you can deliver.” He plans to become a fixture in Jersey City, NJ.
“When I was first arrested, my first words to God were what’s going on here?” Now he says, “I was put there (for a reason).”
And he intends to share the wealth: “I will choose the best breeders, choose the best product for them. Because I’m part of it. And I want to get that across to people so they can say, hey, this is mine.”
President Biden could hasten the dreams of Mario and many others by stepping over all governors and granting clemency across the country. The Weldon Group and a group of influencers have urged the president to live up to his campaign promise to address the thorny issue of the federal ban.
But the president and his Democratic colleague Murphy are just two of the many left-wing leaders who will sooner or later have to answer to green voters. And while we want to have faith that they will someday deliver, we won’t hold our breath for more than a few seconds at a time.
Christopher Minaya
Christopher Minaya has written for XXL, Hot 97, In Flex We Trust and more. He covers East Coast cannabis trends to make the flower more humane.
Check out Christopher Minaya’s articles
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