Marijuana group to pass out joints to members of Congress on 4/20

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Capitol Hill is about to get a bit hazy.

Congressional Democrats and Republicans will be given the opportunity to bake out a “Joint Session” of Congress on Thursday, as Americans across the nation celebrate the unofficial weed-smoking holiday known as 4/20.

Members of DCMJ, a pro-cannabis activist group, plan to camp out near Capitol Hill to puff-puff-pass out at least 1,000 free marijuana joints to members of Congress, congressional staffers, interns and credentialed members of the press. The group offers to give out two joints per person, as long as the tokers are older than 21.

Since state law allows D.C. residents to possess, grow and give away marijuana, the group will most likely be able to carry out the pot-smoking event without obstruction, though the question remains whether anyone will take the weed activists up on their offer.

“Americans don’t want a crackdown on legal cannabis — they want Congress to end cannabis prohibition once and for all,” Adam Eidinger, a co-founder of DCMJ, said in a statement. “Giving adults access to cannabis and individuals and small business owners legal protection in all 50 states is what the American people have been asking for — just take one look at last year’s election.”

The smoking stunt is meant to highlight the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, which prohibits federal authorities from interfering with D.C. cannabis laws. The amendment is set to expire on April 28, and DCMJ hopes that its joint-giveaway will compel members of Congress to consider renewing the amendment.

The group also hopes that the “Joint Session” will butter up members of Congress enough for them to pass a full-on federal legalization of recreational cannabis.

But, considering recent statements by Trump administration officials, DCMJ might be out of luck.

“Let me be clear about marijuana,” Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said during a speech at George Washington University on Tuesday. “It is a potentially dangerous gateway drug that frequently leads to the use of harder drugs…Its use and possession is against federal law and until the law is changed by the U.S. Congress we in DHS are sworn to uphold all the laws on the books.”

Yet, Kelly’s comments come off as relatively lenient once contrasted against ones made by attorney general Jeff Sessions.

The 70-year-old head of the Justice Department has spoken favorably of bringing back the controversial Reagan-era war on drugs, and has also suggested that he wants to roll back medical marijuana legislation.

While serving as a senator of Alabama, Sessions infamously said that he was "OK" with the Ku Klux Klan until he found out that some of its members smoked marijuana, according to former colleagues.  

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