cannabisnews.com: Group Has Rolled 5,500 Joints for Inauguration
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Group Has Rolled 5,500 Joints for Inauguration
Posted by CN Staff on January 19, 2017 at 07:17:04 PT
By Charlotte Alter 
Source: Time
Washington, D.C. -- Everyone prepares for the inauguration in their own special way. President-elect Donald Trump is writing his inaugural address. The Rockettes are practicing their dance moves. Women’s March protesters are painting their signs. And DCMJ is rolling joints.The D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group that successfully lobbied for weed legalization in the district has already rolled more than 5,500 joints to hand out for free before the inauguration. DCMJ says the marijuana hand-out is not necessarily an anti-Trump protest, since both revelers and protesters are invited to partake. Instead, says DCMJ co-founder Nikolas Schiller, the event is supposed to be for anybody who supports cannabis reform.
“We said we would call it off if Trump said anything about cannabis reform,” Schiller said. Since the President-elect has been silent on the issue, Schiller is instructing participants to pick up a joint around 8:00 am on the west side of Dupont Circle, then head to the National Mall and light up exactly 4 minutes and 20 seconds into Trump’s speech. While marijuana possession is legal in Washington D.C. and Schiller and his friends aren’t breaking the law by distributing free weed in public, toking on federal property is still illegal.“The act of nonviolent civil disobedience is to break a law that they wish to change,” he explains. “The smell can go around and people can know ‘oh those people are demonstrating the importance of cannabis legalization.'”Schiller and his fellow DCMJ members are behind this effort from seed to smell. DCMJ successfully lobbied for marijuana legalization in the district, but a congressional budget trick prevented any regulatory spending to legally sell and tax weed, which is why you don’t see any dispensaries in Washington D.C. But growing and possessing marijuana is still legal, so the DCMJ organized a free seed-sharing program so that D.C. residents could grow their own pot at home. Residents are allowed to grow up to six plants per individual (12 for a couple) and possess up to two ounces of weed, but not buy or sell it. So DCMJ gave out over 20,000 free cannabis seeds to D.C. residents.For DCMJ at least, they reaped what they sowed. Once they decided to organize a mass marijuana demonstration at the inauguration, they put out the call for weed donations, and they were overwhelmed at the response. The group has collectively rolled more than 5,500 joints, many of them rolled on TIME magazines “to keep the cannabis off the tablecloth.” Schiller himself has rolled 200 of those, at 55 seconds apiece.They say the demonstration is all about cannabis reform and not about politics. DCMJ has repeatedly demonstrated outside the White House for Obama to re-schedule marijuana out of Schedule I, but they never made much progress. The group hopes Trump’s presidency might be a chance for a new start.After seven marijuana initiatives passed around the country in November (in Massachusetts, Nevada, Maine and California, among others,) some drug reform advocates hope that reforms on the state level might trigger a federal shift. With 29 states legalizing medical marijuana and eight legalizing recreational use, some hope the federal government won’t be far behind. But Trump’s Attorney General pick Jeff Sessions has been loudly opposed to marijuana legalization, and Mike Pence is skeptical about cannabis reform. Trump himself has expressed support for medical marijuana use, but has said the rest should be decided “state by state.”“We really believed that Obama would do something while he had the power to do something, and he never did,” Schiller says. “So now we really hope Trump will do what Obama didn’t.”Source: Time Magazine (US)Author: Charlotte Alter Published: January 18, 2017Copyright: 2017 Time Inc.Contact: letters time.comWebsite: http://www.time.com/time/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/2KI55rSoCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on January 20, 2017 at 19:45:14 PT
Today is Almost Over
What a depressing day. I am afraid the ride is going to be very rough. When people push against Trump he gets meaner and so many people have reasons to push against him. We thought it was hard under Bush. It might seem like that was a cake walk in time.
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on January 20, 2017 at 19:02:54 PT
The Joint Affair
Pro-cannabis group hands out thousands of free joints in Washingtonhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/afp/article-4141358/Pro-cannabis-group-hands-thousands-free-joints-Washington.html
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on January 20, 2017 at 15:44:51 PT
News of the Joint Affair in DC
A real joint committee: On Inauguration Day, D.C. group handed out lots of weedhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-real-joint-committee-on-inauguration-day-dc-group-handed-out-lots-of-weed/2017/01/20/cd93a18c-df44-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html?utm_term=.cf33b50e3002
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on January 20, 2017 at 12:22:21 PT
Excerpt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/protesters-bring-shouts-skirmishes-and-shutdowns-to-inauguration-celebration/2017/01/20/00ea4c72-df11-11e6-acdf-14da832ae861_story.html?utm_term=.43148ed69563Not all of the demonstrations on Friday were anti-Trump. Among those groups that requested permits for space were two organizations that support him: Bikers for Trump and Let America Hear Us, Roar for Trump.The latter shared Dupont Circle with a group that did not request a permit but set up there early Friday — DCMJ, which was formerly known as the D.C. Cannabis Campaign and was behind the successful effort to legalize marijuana in the District in 2015.The group, which started rolling joints this month, plans to hand out 4,200 before marching to the Mall. Once there, those who get through the security checkpoints — a problem because it is illegal to possess marijuana on federal land, which includes the Mall — plan to light up four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump’s speech.A 40-year-old pot grower named Josh stood near Dupont Circle Friday morning, controlling the line, which stretched up Massachusetts Avenue. He said he had donated a half-pound of his own weed for the giveaway.“I’d appreciate it if you don’t do any illegal here,” Josh told the crowd. “If you want to do something illegal, take it down the block.”Nikolas Schiller, co-founder of DCMJ, said the demonstration is not a protest of Trump but a signal of wanting to work with him on fully legalizing cannabis in all 50 states and the District.“This is about demonstrating to Trump that he has the power to change the law and do what Obama was not able to do,” Schiller said. “We believe cannabis legalization will create jobs, it will increase tax revenue, and it will also help fix the broken criminal justice” system.As for the bikers they will be sharing space with Friday, he said, “We hope some come on over and get a free joint.”
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on January 20, 2017 at 12:01:46 PT
Looking at some of the photographs
and news of some of the protests in the city... looks like they could have used a few thousand more joints.I hope people are ok. Especially our people on the ground there.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on January 20, 2017 at 11:20:09 PT
Any news yet
about how this went?
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on January 20, 2017 at 07:29:14 PT
Big Day
New boss.Will he ignore us, help us, or set the dogs on us?Guess we'll know pretty soon. Well, we always knew it wasn't over yet. Just can't help but wonder if it might start all over again now. Are they blood thirsty? Are they after our blood?Waiting and watching.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on January 19, 2017 at 21:43:03 PT
 DCMJ 
More power to you!
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 19, 2017 at 16:33:21 PT
Obama
Obama commutes 330 drug sentences on last day as presidenthttp://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/19/obama-commutes-drug-sentences-last-act/
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