MICHIGAN MARIJUANA PRISONER MICHAEL THOMPSON TO GET CALL FROM TOMMY CHONG ON July 24, 2019

MICHIGAN MARIJUANA PRISONER MICHAEL THOMPSON TO GET CALL FROM TOMMY CHONG ON July 24, 2019

Michael Thompson, who is serving a 40-60 year sentence at the Michigan State Penitentiary for selling three pounds of marijuana to a police informant in 1994, will be visited in prison by activist/filmmaker Jeff Eichen on July 24, 2019. Eichen has arranged for Tommy Chong to chat with Thompson during the interview.

Thompson, a 69-year-old African American, has already served 25 years in prison and is not scheduled for possible parole until 2038. Because he was a gun owner at the time of his arrest, he was charged with a firearms violation and sentenced accordingly, even though he did not have any firearms on him at the time of his marijuana sale.

In the wake of Michigan legalizing marijuana in 2018, activists are advocating for Thompson’s release by various methods, including campaigning for a pardon from Governor Whitmer.

Tommy Chong, who starred in a series of popular “Cheech & Chong” movies spoofing marijuana smokers in the 70s and 80s, was imprisoned for nine months in 2003/4 after a federal sting operation caught his bong company shipping products to Pennsylvania. Chong has since become a marijuana and prison reform activist.