The District of Columbia Marijuana Justice (DCMJ) activist group announced Monday, August 23 that they would be holding a rally in the capital city on September 28. DCMJ proposes a peaceful demonstration outside of Congress for:

• Their failure to enact meaningful and comprehensive criminal justice reforms
• The removal of cannabis from the Schedule I drug list
• The lifting of the congressional barriers blocking Washington, D.C. from regulating cannabis and its sales

A peaceful demonstration or rally has not taken place at the capital since the violent insurrection took place on January 6. DCMJ wants to bring back the people’s right to protest and become involved in their government in appropriate ways. No organizations have protested in the capital since the insurrection.

Additionally, DCMJ noted that around 91 percent of voters in the U.S. approve of cannabis legalization. According to 31 percent of Americans, only medical cannabis should be legalized. Another 60 percent said both recreational and medical cannabis should be legal. Eight percent of Americans said cannabis should be illegal and the final one percent didn’t respond. A vast majority of people want legalization, yet Congress and the White House haven’t made moves to meet the same standard, according to DCMJ.

Response 

In a recent press release, DCMJ members and co-founders spoke about the need to protest peacefully and for cannabis rights. 

“If foot-dragging and procrastination were Olympic sports, no doubt about it, Congress gets the Gold, hands down,” said co-founder Adam Eidinger. “We appreciate the work of lawmakers who have decided enough is enough with the failed war on drugs propaganda campaign and are ready to legalize cannabis. However, it only takes a handful of key opponents to block legalization. What is taking Congress and the White House so long to get their act together and join the majority of Americans who just say yes to legalization? Are they so arrogant that they really think they know better than the majority of Americans?”

The other co-founder of DCMJ, Nikolas Schiller, added to Eidinger’s point. “The congressional barrier blocking the District of Columbia from regulating cannabis, known as the Harris rider, is a perfect example of how Congress has been a windfall for the illegal sale of cannabis. Congress has aided and abetted underground operations to expand and go virtually undetected by denying the regulated sale of adult-use cannabis in D.C. by preventing a structure to be created for the legal sale of adult-use cannabis, despite the voters of D.C. approving the creation of regulated adult-use cannabis. The Harris Rider must be removed once and for all.”

Future

DCMJ will hold their peaceful rally outside of the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, September 28. They applied for a special event permit through the Capitol Police. However their permit was denied as no organization has received a permit since the insurrection. DCMJ has successfully and peacefully protested outside of Congress with and without a permit since its creation in 2013. The press release provided by the organization says communication lines will remain open with the Capitol Police.

For anyone interested in attending this peaceful rally, a mask mandate will remain in effect. DCMJ also highly encourages participants to receive their Covid-19 vaccine to make sure everyone is as safe as possible.

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