{"id":1315,"date":"2021-09-24T15:31:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T15:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/wp-home\/?p=177834"},"modified":"2021-09-24T15:31:09","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T15:31:09","slug":"white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/?p=1315","title":{"rendered":"White Boy Rick comes out swinging for cannabis and \u2018The 8th\u2019 Amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <title>White Boy Rick comes out swinging for cannabis and &#8216;The 8th&#8217; Amendment &#8211; Leafly<\/title>     <!-- This is Index Exchange, a script\/\/3rd-party integration that interjects GAM. It needs to be 'ahead' of GTM in the DOM, which comes from Cephalopod. GTM loads GAM. 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You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"hidden age-gate__loading\">Redirecting you to<span class=\"redirect-domain\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-xs mt-auto\">By accessing this site, you accept<br \/>\nthe <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"tou-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/terms-of-use\">Terms of Use<\/a><br \/>\nand <a class=\"py-xl\" data-testid=\"pp-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/info\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"container my-xl\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col md:col-9\" id=\"article-content\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">At the age of 14, Richard Wershe Jr., aka \u201cWhite Boy Rick,\u201d became the youngest FBI informant in American history. With his help, the feds took down some of Detroit\u2019s biggest drug gangs. But in 1987, police received a tip that Rick had stashed 18 pounds of cocaine in his neighbor\u2019s yard. <\/p>\n<p>The 17-year-old was arrested and given a life sentence without parole, due to Michigan\u2019s notoriously cruel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grabellaw.com\/650-lifer-law-for-drug-possession-in-michigan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">650-Lifer Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1998, that law was revised. As the years went by, the extent to which Wershe was exploited by the FBI and local police came to light. The legend of White Boy Rick began to travel far beyond the confines of Detroit. In 2017, the Netflix documentary <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81244037\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span>White Boy<\/span><\/a> <\/em>told his story, and the following year the feature film <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/white_boy_rick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span>White Boy Rick<\/span><\/a><\/em> put his life up on the big screen\u2014while he still languished in prison.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"photo-of-white-boy-rick-in-a-cannabis-grow-room\" class=\"wp-image-177842 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>Rick Wershe, aka White Boy Rick, was once sentenced to life in prison for a non-violent drug offense. Now he\u2019s free and urging others to claim their 8th Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. (Photo courtesy of The 8th cannabis company)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In July 2020, Rick Wershe was finally <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2020\/07\/20\/white-boy-rick-richard-wershe-released\/5470651002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">released<\/a>. After serving 32 years for a nonviolent drug offense, he got out and found a country that was not only in the midst of a national reckoning with police violence and corruption, but one that had also evolved its attitude towards drugs, especially marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Now Wershe is back in Michigan, engaged to his childhood sweetheart, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2021\/07\/22\/white-boy-rick-sues-fbi-teenage-drug-dealer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suing the FBI<\/a> and the Detroit Police, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metrotimes.com\/detroit\/white-boy-rick-is-launching-his-own-cannabis-company\/Content?oid=27907866#:~:text=And%20now%2C%20Wershe%20is%20entering,%E2%80%9Ccruel%20and%20unusual%E2%80%9D%20punishment.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">launching<\/a> his own cannabis brand that aims to address issues of criminal justice reform.<\/p>\n<p>The brand is called The 8<sup>th<\/sup>. It\u2019s a reference to both the common marijuana weight measurement and the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the imposition of cruel and unusual punishment.<\/p>\n<p>The new brand, produced in partnership with Michigan based cannabis company <a href=\"https:\/\/www.enjoypleasantrees.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pleasantrees<\/a>, will sell flower, vapes, merch, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Wershe and Pleasantrees plan to go public with a limited edition of The 8<sup>th<\/sup> products in Michigan on Oct. 8.<\/p>\n<p>I recently spoke with Wershe about The 8<sup>th<\/sup> and other developments in his life.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-helping-the-forgotten-ones-in-prison\">Helping \u2018the forgotten ones\u2019 in prison<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Leafly:<\/strong> Hey Rick. You\u2019ve got such an incredible story and I want to get into it, but first tell me how this new cannabis brand came about.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-left\">\n<p>\u2018I can\u2019t change my mistakes, but I can show I\u2019m not the person they made me out to be.\u2019 <\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 Rick Wershe, aka White Boy Rick<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Rick: <\/strong>To be honest with you man, I became friends with a disabled kid who would write letters to me while I was incarcerated. He sort of became a pen pal. At a certain point he didn\u2019t want to take the pills they were giving him but his insurance didn\u2019t cover cannabis. So I knew some caregivers who started giving him some free cannabis. Then when I got home I met with Pleasantrees and we talked and I felt like I could do some good in this space and give back.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leafly: <\/strong>I\u2019ve heard The 8<sup>th<\/sup> has a social justice and prison reform angle to it. How will that manifest itself?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick: <\/strong>The plan is to take a portion of the proceeds and give it back to jail diversion and prison reform. We want to help the people I call \u201cthe forgotten ones\u201d\u2014because when you\u2019re in prison you\u2019re forgotten. We\u2019re also gonna educate people on what the Eighth Amendment is. Maybe you know now after reading about my brand, but did you know before that?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leafly:<\/strong> Honestly, no.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick: <\/strong>Thank you. Most people don\u2019t know any of their constitutional rights. You have them for a reason. The Eighth Amendment says you can\u2019t be the subject of cruel and unusual punishment. What about the Sixth Amendment: your right to an attorney. Most kids from the inner city don\u2019t know that. Most adults don\u2019t know that. So I want to use the brand to give back but also to educate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img width=\"1024\" height=\"910\" alt=\"photo-of-White-Boy-Rick-cannabis-product-called-the-eighth\" class=\"wp-image-177848 has-ll lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=550 550w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=740 740w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/white-boy-rick-comes-out-swinging-for-cannabis-and-the-8th-amendment-1.jpg,compress&amp;w=1480 1480w\"><figcaption>\u201cThe 8th\u201d is named after both the unit of weed weight and the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment. (Photo courtesy of The 8th)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-locked-up-in-1987-walked-free-in-2020\">Locked up in 1987, walked free in 2020<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Leafly: <\/strong>Is it surreal to spend all that time in prison for a nonviolent drug offense to then get released years later and see that there\u2019s this evolved conversation around marijuana and drugs in general?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick: <\/strong>Oh, of course. I mean look, Oregon decriminalized all drugs. The attitude towards drugs has changed so much. I get to speak to judges and prosecutors and all types of people. <\/p>\n<p>Everything I\u2019ve been through and the journey I went on in my life, it gave me a platform. Before there ever was this upcoming series, where you know, Eminem is gonna play me, I\u2019ve been an advocate for anybody doing twenty or thirty years for a nonviolent crime when you have child molesters who get three or four years. They\u2019re the lowest form of criminal on the face of the earth but we give them breaks but we don\u2019t give a break to an inner city kid who was trying to help his family, or just survive?<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes people just do something to survive and then you turn out to be a bigger drug dealer than you wanted to be. But that doesn\u2019t justify giving people life in prison.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-not-a-war-on-drugs-a-war-on-inner-city-kids\">Not a war on drugs; a war on inner city kids<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Leafly:<\/strong> What do you think people get wrong when discussing the War on Drugs?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick: <\/strong>The war on drugs is fake, bro. There is no war on drugs. Look at the history of it. It\u2019s proven that the CIA were bringing in drugs and that they were working with cartels. The war on drugs was a war on [people in] poverty. It was a prison industry boom. It was a war on kids from inner cities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Leafly: <\/strong>You got out in July 2020, in the midst of a new national reckoning with police brutality and corruption. Was it encouraging to see that conversation happening?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick:<\/strong> It\u2019s very encouraging. What happened to George Floyd should never happen to anybody. &nbsp;The sad fact of the matter is that\u2019s it\u2019s been happening forever\u2014we just didn\u2019t have cellphones.<\/p>\n<p>The day I was arrested, I was beaten so severely I ended up in the hospital. I was beaten to the point I couldn\u2019t breath. They lied and said I resisted. How do you resist when you\u2019re handcuffed and you\u2019re 17? That\u2019s what police did. They beat the fuck out of you. It was normal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What makes a person think it\u2019s okay to put their knee on someone\u2019s neck and choke them to death? And most of the time these guys get off. Just because someone is raised in Beverly Hills and someone else is raised on the east side of Detroit, doesn\u2019t mean they have different rights. It doesn\u2019t say that in the Constitution. It says we are all equal.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-i-don-t-have-any-anger-i-don-t-want-pity\">\u2018I don\u2019t have any anger. I don\u2019t want pity.\u2019<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Leafly: <\/strong>You seem to have such a productive and positive outlook and you\u2019re trying to make something good of what\u2019s befallen you, but do you ever feel anger and resentment for what happened in your life?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick:<\/strong> I don\u2019t have any anger. I can\u2019t change what happened to me. But I can try to make sure it doesn\u2019t happen to another kid. Time is the most valuable commodity in the world and you can\u2019t just get it back. When you take that from people by locking them up you don\u2019t just take it from them, you take it from their family. I know what my kids went through. <\/p>\n<p>When you sentence someone to prison, you sentence their whole family. You sentence their kids. You\u2019re sending their kids on a totally different journey in life.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want a pity party. Yesterday I was at a Detroit Lions game and a whole section started cheering my name. Every one of those people when I met them or took a picture with them thanked me and said they were sorry for what I went through. But I don\u2019t want those people to be sorry for me. I want to show them that I\u2019m not what the media and police said I was. They thanked me for what I do for the community and that\u2019s what I want people to remember about me. That I\u2019m a giver. <\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t change the mistakes I made, but I can show that I\u2019m not&nbsp;the person they made me out to be. I was never a menace to society. That was all to justify the crimes they committed against me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-more-films-documentaries-and-advocacy-coming\">More films, documentaries, and advocacy coming<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Leafly:<\/strong> What do you have coming down the pike? Eminem is playing you in an upcoming series?&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rick: <\/strong>Eminem is playing me in the <em>Black Mafia Family<\/em> series. I recently met with 50 Cent, who is producing the show. He\u2019s a great example of someone who defied the odds; though people called him a drug dealer and a menace to society, he turned around and became a businessman, a movie producer and a hugely successful public figure.<\/p>\n<p>As for the documentary, its tentatively titled <em>The Long Road Home.<\/em> It documents the first week of me coming home, and tells my story. Unlike a lot of the stuff out there, it\u2019s gonna be 100% true.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Rick says The 8th will have a limited release in Michigan on October 8th.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"leafly-sailthru-signup p-lg my-xl bg-white rounded elevation-low border border-light-grey\">\n<p class=\"text-xs pt-lg\">By submitting this form, you will be subscribed to news and promotional emails from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\">Leafly<\/a> and you agree to Leafly&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/tos\">Terms of Service<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.leafly.com\/company\/privacy-policy\">Privacy Policy<\/a>. You can unsubscribe from Leafly email messages anytime.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <!-- Chartbeat --> <!-- End Chartbeat -->  <!--\nPerformance optimized by W3 Total Cache. Learn more: https:\/\/www.boldgrid.com\/w3-total-cache\/ Served from: _ @ 2021-09-24 17:12:09 by W3 Total Cache\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>White Boy Rick comes out swinging for cannabis and &#8216;The 8th&#8217; Amendment &#8211; Leafly Leafly Leafly \u00ae Loading\u2026 Where are you from? noyes Remember me for 30 days. I confirm that this is not a shared device. Darn! You&#8217;re not old enough to use Leafly. Redirecting you to By accessing this site, you accept the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. At the age of 14, Richard Wershe Jr., aka \u201cWhite Boy Rick,\u201d became the youngest FBI informant in American history. With his help, the feds took down some of Detroit\u2019s biggest drug gangs. But in 1987, police received a&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marijuana_information"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}