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| About That Bud Summit at the White House |
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Posted by CN Staff on April 25, 2016 at 15:32:43 PT By Aaron C. Davis Source: Washington Post 
Washington, D.C. -- It took a pot-smoking protest outside the White House, but on Monday, advocates for marijuana legalization were set for a historic face-to-face meeting with the Obama administration about easing laws governing the drug. Except, it wasn’t. Leaders of the successful ballot measure fight that legalized marijuana in the nation’s capital said they were granted a White House meeting, but it was with two junior-level staffers in Obama’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.There was no presidential entourage, no promises of more meetings to come. In fact, there was no visit to the White House proper, but a mostly empty conference room in an adjacent building. “They didn’t say a lot, they took notes, maybe four pages worth,” said Adam Eidinger, the face of the D.C. marijuana movement, who dressed up for the visit in a black suit with a black-and-green marijuana leaf tie. “We asked questions, but they didn’t answer. . . . They nodded a lot. I think they understood us.” President Obama said in January that reforming marijuana laws is not on his agenda in his final year in office. But activists’ hopes have been raised by a combination of factors: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has made legalizing pot a plank of his surprisingly successful run for the Democratic presidential nomination. Meanwhile, a petition by Democratic governors has led the Drug Enforcement Agency to say it will decide by July whether to remove marijuana from the nation’s list of most dangerous drugs. Eidinger and other activists said they hoped Monday’s meeting might begin a conversation about marijuana reform that could provide cover to likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to continue work should she win the election in November. Eidinger also tried to guilt and embarrass Obama into action. Fliers announcing the mass pot-smoking event outside the White House said the event was held not on April 20, the typical national day of action over marijuana policy, but earlier because of the president. “Due to popular demand, we’re rescheduling 4/20 this year to 4/2 because Obama’s been a BIG ZERO on cannabis reform,” said the fliers. In Eidinger’s last letter to Obama administration, he also offered to call off the spectacle if the president agreed to sit down or “Bud Summit” with marijuana advocates. “As a former cannabis (and current?) user, you know firsthand that cannabis does not belong in the Controlled Substances Act,” Eidinger wrote. But on Monday, both sides characterized the meeting as no more than a perfunctory listening session — and partly for good reason. Since the meeting was with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the administration officials present are not able to advocate for reclassifying marijuana thanks to funding restrictions imposed by Congress. In a statement, a spokesman for the office downplayed Monday’s meeting: “Over the years, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has met with numerous organizations representing varied perspectives on drug policy. As laid out in the National Drug Control Strategy, the Administration’s drug policy continues to focus on a balanced public health and public safety approach to reduce drug use and its consequences.” Thirty minutes after the meeting began, Eidinger and Nikolas Schiller, co-founder of DC Marijuana Justice, were done and outside the White House. They held a banner that read “President Obama, We need a higher level meeting.” Now what? “I’m going to write more letters,” Eidinger said. Aaron Davis covers D.C. government and politics for The Post and wants to hear your story about how D.C. works — or how it doesn’t. Source: Washington Post (DC) CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help
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| Comment #5 posted by Hope on May 06, 2016 at 09:41:06 PT |
| I wish everyone agreed. Obviously, it's too much of a buzz kill for some of us to want to give those problems too much thought. It is a buzz kill, but those buzz killing reasons are the reason I hate this unjust war so badly. Death. Prison. Home invasions. Shelter, education, and liberty denied. Government confiscation and seizure. Poor health for some. Government bullying. A cruel injustice. How long, Lord? How long? [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by Canis420 on May 05, 2016 at 01:06:59 PT:
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| You are so right [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 26, 2016 at 13:03:43 PT |
| Is not just a freaking joint or a freaking leaf. It's a freaking armed government home invasion. It's freaking murder! It's guns in the faces of children and old people. Remember that silouette logo someone used to have of a swat team breaking into a family home? How about a silouette of people with their hands bound behind their backs super imposed over that leaf? How about pictures of the people who have needlessly lost their lives or homes or family members because of the prohibition of this well liked leaf? Get down. Get real, people. It's not all about the leaf or joint at all. It's very, very serious. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Hope on April 26, 2016 at 12:34:30 PT |
| I know that his being the father of two lovely teenagers weighs heavily on his ideas, if any. Is the First Lady a prohibitionist? I'm sure she has views on the matter. I don't recall reading anything in particular about them though. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on April 25, 2016 at 16:35:35 PT |
| >>>President Obama said in January that reforming marijuana laws is not on his agenda in his final year in office. It may not be on his agendaÉ.but it's on ours! California, Massachusetts, Maine, Arizona, Nevada, and more. [ Post Comment ] |
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