This year’s 4/20 weed giveaway, as well as a 4/24 smoke-in will be memorable. Just remember to wear comfortable shoes.
Here are a few things to consider: a) The location – Capitol Hill; b) recipients of the free joints – Congress members; and c) focus of the events – the White House and its collection of conservatives who not only disapprove of weed, they seem to actually hate it.
Unlike last year, there will be two separate April protests in Washington D.C., both sponsored by DCMJ, co-founded in 2013 by Adam Eidinger and Nikolas Schiller with the express purpose of changing the marijuana laws in the District of Columbia.
This Year’s Theme: Reschedule420
The first protest, the weed giveaway, will take place on April 20 from “high noon” until 5 p.m.
Eidinger and Schiller told CNN that members of the group will set up just off the Capitol grounds and pass out joints of locally grown marijuana rolled by hand at the home base of DCMJ on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C.
Turn On Congress
They will be handing out joints to members of Congress, staffers, credentialed journalists and interns, as long as they are 21 or over and have a valid congressional ID.
According to DCMJ, the weed handout will all be legal under the District of Columbia’s marijuana law. Organizers are calling the giveaway, the carrot approach—an attempt to “de-stigmatize” the plant.
Then, on April 24, when more lawmakers are expected to be in town, the smoke-in will take place.
The group says they plan to invite arrest by heading up to the Capitol to smoke weed on federal grounds in an effort to make a point.
“I fully expect to be arrested that day,” Eidinger said.
DCMJ, which has persistently and successfully pushed for legalization in Washington, D.C., held a colorful free pot giveaway during Trump’s inauguration, lending cheer to the unfortunate event.
DCMJ believes that gathering people at demonstrations is a necessary tactic to show the world the absurdity of the remark made by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”
Hence, the group is moving ahead fast and furiously toward 4/20 and 4/24, their battle cry: Reschedule420.
Per DCMJ’s website: While other marijuana advocacy groups are issuing statements, we are calling on them to join us in a national demonstration on April 24, 2017. The powers that be ignore our statements and petitions but they cannot ignore us when we gather in large numbers.
Benjamin Franklin Would Have Approved
As protesters pass Ben’s statue on Pennsylvania Avenue, they should remember the founding father’s words: “It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”
