Pro-pot group to pass out 4,200 free joints on Inauguration Day

Any adults in Washington, D.C., looking to get stoned on Inauguration Day should make their way to the west side of Dupont Circle by 8 a.m.

The D.C. Cannabis Coalition is pushing for federal legalization of pot, and the group plans on passing out free joints to the first 4,200 people they meet. Later, they will march to the National Mall, where 4 minutes and 20 seconds into Donald Trump's speech, they'll light up. "We are going to tell them that if they smoke on federal property, they are risking arrest," Adam Eidinger, founder of the group DCMJ, told WUSA-TV. "But, that's a form of civil disobedience. I think it's a good protest." DCMJ is a group of D.C. residents who helped push through Initiative 17, which makes it legal in the District to possess 2 ounces or less of marijuana, grow it, and give it away (selling pot is illegal).

Eidinger said the protest is not anti-Trump, nor is it an attempt to derail the inauguration, but his group is concerned about Trump's pick for attorney general, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R), who "as recently as April said that they are going to enforce federal law on marijuana all over the country," Eidinger noted. While the goal is to change the law, Eidinger hopes the event also makes people glad they came to the inauguration. "If there are people from Texas, some Cowboys fan, who is walking down the street in a cowboy hat and a big fur coat and he walks up to our demonstration, I want him to feel welcome coming to D.C.," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up