This one’s not a debate, it’s a gut check. Stephanie Shepard spent about a decade in federal prison on a nonviolent cannabis conspiracy conviction, and now she’s working with the Last Prisoner Project to help bring other people home. Legal weed is cool, but it hits different when you remember people are still doing real time for the same plant.

What This Episode Is Really About

• How “conspiracy” charges can swallow people whole, even without you being caught with product or cash

• What it does to your identity when you go from “regular person” to “felon” overnight

• The invisible part of prison, the time you lose, the skills gap, the trauma, the reentry chaos

• Why legalization without release and record clearing is just capitalism wearing a halo

• Practical ways to help, that don’t require you to become a full-time activist

Stephanie’s Story, The Parts That Stick

• She describes catching a first-time, victimless “conspiracy” charge tied to an ex-boyfriend’s case

• The jury, and most people watching from the outside, often do not understand what the sentence is really going to be, until it’s too late

• She talks about the insanity of facing years for a nonviolent cannabis conspiracy case, even when she says she was not caught with cannabis or money

• Inside, she found purpose where she could, including years teaching ESL in prison

• Getting out was not a movie ending, it was whiplash, tech moved on, life moved on, and your record follows you into everything

Legal weed is not justice, it’s just a new chapter. Until the people still locked up for cannabis are free, and the people branded by convictions can actually rebuild, we’re not done here.

Last Prisoner Project

Write a Letter

We keep a running list of tools and brands we personally enjoy and actually use.

Find everything in one place here:

👉 https://cannabisschool.org

Only what we’d use ourselves. No fluff. Just the good stuff.

Got thoughts or questions?

Drop us a line, we actually read them.

Keep the Mic on.

Fuel the movement. Keep the conversation going.

Subscribe on YouTube for smart content with zero judgment, one episode at a time.

Stay Connected

Website: https://cannabisschool.org

Instagram: @cannabisschoolpodcast

Facebook: Cannabis School

TikTok: @cannabisschool

Episode Music Credits

Psalm Trees, James Berkeley – Ah Yeah

FeedSpot Top 100 Cannabis TikTok Influencers