A disabled veteran who served nearly 10 months in an Alabama prison for cannabis possession, Sean Worsley, was finally released from prison and granted parole on November 9.
Worsley, a disabled veteran of the Iraqi War and owner of a Purple Heart, was a legal medical cannabis patient in his home state of Arizona, but medical cannabis possession and consumption is still illegal in Alabama. “I’m overjoyed really, relieved,” Worsley said as he left prison, talking about his recent release. “I’m still taking it all in. Glad to see my baby. It’s been a long while.”
He was originally prescribed medical cannabis in the state of Arizona because he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, as well as chronic pain and sleep disorders which Veterans Affairs (VA) deemed him “…totally and permanently disabled due solely to [his] service-connected disabilities.”
It began four years ago while traveling through Alabama with his wife to visit relatives in North Carolina, the couple was approached by law enforcement at a gas station because of the smell of cannabis. Worsely complied and explained to the officer that he was a medical cannabis cardholder in the state of Arizona. However, the officer arrested them and charged them with a felony.
Early in 2019, Worsley was cited for failing to attend court or pay court ordered fines. According to AL.com, there was a warrant out for his arrest in Pickens County, Alabama—and aside from not being able to afford $250 to renew his Arizona medical cannabis card, the VA revoked his veteran benefits. Everything came to a head when Worsley was pulled over in 2020, and was eventually extradited to Alabama.
Worsley’s release was in part thanks to his many supporters, including Senator Cam Ward. “[The pardon] was the right decision to make, particularly during a pandemic,” Ward told AL.com. “There are several people who should be in prison, but some people who shouldn’t be in the system. He’s one of them. If there was ever a case of someone society has left down, someone, a veteran, who couldn’t get the mental health and treatment he needed, it was him. We discarded him and that’s not justice to me.”
