A 51-foot inflatable joint, which has previously been seen at marijuana events near the White House and in New York City, is making its way to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention next week.
According to the Philly Voice, DCMJ, an organization pushing for marijuana legalization, will lead the event, with volunteers marching the 51-foot joint from City Hall to the Wells Fargo Center on July 25. The joint is set to make it’s return during the Cannabis Pride Parade on July 28.
“The marijuana movement has to bring some levity to the tense times we’re living in,” longtime activist Nikki Allan Poe told the Philly Voice, noting that cannabis issues are at the “forefront of society right now. We wanted to do a protest that’s fun.
“Times are changing,” Poe continued. “Things are getting different. Marijuana can unite this country. We’re the new America. We want to be heard, with a message of peace, compassion and care for people. This directly affects our community so we want our piece of the pie, standing up for ourselves. It’s an exciting time to be alive.”
The DNC, which will be held at Philly’s Wells Fargo Center from July 25-28, is expected to hold platform discussions on July 26, with a vote on July 27. The DNC’s Democratic Platform Committee has addressed marijuana in its 2016 platform draft, stating:
“We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and those states that want to decriminalize marijuana should be able to do so. We support policies that will allow more research on marijuana, as well as reforming our laws to allow legal marijuana businesses to exist without uncertainty. And we recognize our current marijuana laws have had an unacceptable disparate impact, with arrest rates for marijuana possession among African Americans far outstripping arrest rates among whites, despite similar usage rates.”
they should take that to the RNC