Dana Beal helped build the cannabis legalization movement. He organized hundreds of smoke-ins, founded the Global Marijuana March, brought ibogaine to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines and appeared in a Hulu documentary that premiered today. He is also 79 years old, sitting in an Idaho prison, and being held longer than his sentence requires. His supporters say the extension could kill him.
On February 24, 2026, Beal surrendered in Gooding County, Idaho and was sentenced to six months in jail plus 9.5 years of parole to be served in New York City. Given his prior two months of incarceration in early 2024, he had roughly four months left to serve. The math put his release date in July.
Then Idaho moved him.
Beal has since been transferred from the county jail to the Mountain View Transformation Center in Boise, an Idaho Department of Corrections facility. According to organizer Paul Stanford, who has been coordinating support for Beal and updating his GoFundMe page, prison officials are now requiring Beal to complete a drug treatment program for marijuana addiction before release. That requirement, if not waived, could keep him behind bars until December 2026.
Beal has a documented history of severe cardiovascular disease. He survived a heart attack while incarcerated in Wisconsin following a 2011 arrest. He has also suffered a stroke. His supporters argue that holding a 79-year-old with that medical profile through an Idaho winter, for six additional months beyond his agreed sentence, serves no public safety purpose and poses a serious risk to his life.
Who Dana Beal is
If you watched 4X20: Quick Hits on Hulu today, you saw Beal open the High Times documentary by turning toward a camera in a county courtroom and saying: “I want to tell you a story about my friend Tom before I have to go to jail.” …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
