A group of “Washingstonians” have planned a 420-themed protest on January 20: the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States.
ADVERTISEMENTA group of “Washingstonians” have planned a 420-themed protest on January 20: the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States.
They aim to pressure Trump into legalising marijuana federally across the country and protest the president-elect’s pick for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions.
The DCMJ (short for DC ‘Mary Jane’) organisation plan to march between Dupont Circle and continue down to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., giving out 4,200 free joints on their way.
They’ll then “light up” together four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump’s inauguration speech.
The #TRUMP420 protest has been a long time in the making, according to Elizabeth Croydon, a cannabis legalisation advocate, who explains that the group started rolling joints weeks before the protest “to prepare for the guests that we have coming into our hometown.”
The DCMJ have said on their website that the protest will not go ahead if President Trump comes out in support of full cannabis legalisation in all 50 States and, of course, D.C.
Adam Eidinger, the group’s leader has said that he hopes Donald Trump will “reach out to him personally,” and consult major marijuana groups about “what they want to see happen” in the future.
Donald Trump’s election day was a watershed moment for the legalisation of cannabis the U.S., which saw eight states voting to legalise medical or recreational marijuana.
In the 90s the soon-to-be president’s own stance on legal marijuana appeared to be relaxed when he explained in The Maimi Herald that the U.S. must “legalise drugs to win” the war on drugs.
Since then his opinion appears to have become less black and white. He recently told The Washington Post that it should be a “state-by-state” issue, yet he has still come out “in favour of medical marijuana 100%.”
However, in nominating Jeff Sessions as attorney general, Trump has possibly thrown a spanner in the works for the drug’s legalisation across the U.S.
Sessions commented in 2016 that “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” labelling the drug “a very real danger.”
A law passed in D.C. in 2015 now permits adults 21 years old or over to possess up to two ounces of marijuana for consumption on private property.
To ensure that their protest is legal over 40 #TRUMP420 volunteers will distribute the pre-rolled joints, checking participants’ IDs to ensure that they are of age.
The District has said that individuals arrested for consuming marijuana in public could face either a $500 fine or up to 60 days in jail.