Celebrities, cash and questions: A new force roils the cannabis prisoner-release movement

With a founder who is one of the pot world’s most legendary activists and a board that includes Jim Belushi, Melissa Etheridge and two sons of Bob Marley, the Last Prisoner Project attracted fans from the moment it sprang on the West Coast charity scene in the spring of 2019, calling on cannabis enthusiasts to help secure the release of people convicted of marijuana-related crimes.

Now it’s getting attention for a different reason: pushback from would-be allies who've toiled for decades on the same cause.