President Obama to Meet with Group that Legalized Cannabis in D.C., Held Public Smoke-Out in Front of White House

President Obama to Meet with Group that Legalized Cannabis in D.C., Held Public Smoke-Out in Front of White House

In a surprise move,the White House has extended an invitation to meet with the leadership of the DC Cannabis Campaign (DCMJ), the organization that legalized cannabis in Washington D.C. in 2014 through a citizens initiative.

The meeting, set for Monday, April 25, comes in the wake of DCMJ’s peaceful Reschedule 420 demonstration and smoke-out in front of the White House that featured a 51-foot inflatable joint and drew thousands of activists and supporters calling on President Obama to remove cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, which puts it alongside drugs such as heroin.

“DCMJ appreciates greatly the invitation by the Obama administration to begin an educated and passionate dialogue into the need to remove cannabis from the list of Schedule One drugs,” says Adam Eidinger, co-founder of DCMJ. “Thanks to Schedule One of the Controlled Substances Act, Americans, especially people of color, are needlessly incarcerated, and critical medical research into the healing properties of cannabis is placed on hold for no good reason.”

Eidinger added, “We have long been hopeful that this President would be the one who would rectify this unnecessary injustice. Now, as his presidency approaches its twilight, we’re again optimistic that President Obama will take action. That’s the message we plan to convey to his aides when we meet.”

According to Nikolas Schiller, DCMJ’s co-founder and Communications Director; “This is an opportunity for the White House to meet with serious and committed cannabis activists and hear our case for why it’s in President Obama’s best interest to work with the attorney general to fully remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act”.