A local pro-pot group calls for President Obama to completely deschedule the plant with an act of “civil disobedience” by consuming marijuana outside of the White House.
Problem is, the grounds in and around the White House are federal property and therefore completely off limits to marijuana. But it’s a risk this pro-pot group is willing to take in order to draw attention to the political issue of whether or not to remove cannabis from the list of prohibited drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.
Organizing the smokeout is DCMJ, a grassroots community group created by residents of the District of Columbia. They know what they plan on doing is federally illegal, as they point out in a statement:
“We will not be seeking any type of permit from the National Park Police because it is our constitutional right to peacefully gather and demand Obama stop being a hypocrite. He smoked cannabis and became the president of the United States, and while he might think cannabis is a bad habit, does he seriously think it’s on par with heroin, nicotine, or alcohol?”
The cannabis group is “rescheduling” 4/20, the day cannabis enthusiasts have historically made a point to celebrate the plant — to 4/2 in attempts to make politicians address the issue of descheduling cannabis.
RELATED ARTICLE:Rescheduling Cannabis: It’s Not A Matter Of If, But When
Even if the lame duck in the Oval Office was on board with descheduling cannabis, DCMJ would also have to get a slew of other cabinet officials on board to actually make a change.
According to legislative experts such as The Marijuana Policy Project and the Brookings Institution, such an effort would be better served on trying to educate Congress on the issue. Specifically, that a small nudge in the right direction – let’s say rescheduling cannabis to a Schedule II instead of a Schedule I drug – would give researchers and scientists access to the plant for studies.
Rescheduling would finally enable America’s scientific community to catch up, build upon, (and even surpass) the work of scientists and chemists in the Czech Republic and Israel who have been at the forefront of endocannabinoid research.
This highly illegal protest will draw attention to the protestors but in reality, Cheech and Chong could be co-presidents and they wouldn’t be able to change the current Schedule I status of cannabis.
Chloe Sommers is the Executive Editor of the Never Daunted Radio Network. You can reach her on Twitter @ChloePalma