This Sunday evening, on the 2 year anniversary of Ballot Initiative 71 becoming law, DCMJ will be participating in the National Cannabis Festival’s Ask Me Anything on Reddit. Be sure to RSVP on FB and participate with any questions you may have!
Statement on Attorney General Sessions
DCMJ Urges President Trump to Stop Sessions from Reversing Course of Legalization
WASHINGTON, DC — Legalization advocates DCMJ, the organization that spearheaded Initiative 71 that legalized cannabis in the District of Columbia, issued the following statement Wednesday regarding the Senate confirming Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as U.S. Attorney General.
Adam Eidinger, co-founder DCMJ stated:
“Despite all the damning evidence brought against him, the Senate today rubber-stamped colleague Jeff Sessions to serve as Attorney General in the Trump Administration. Sessions is a failed war on drugs zealot who has gone so far as to suggest that marijuana offenders deserve the death penalty. To say he is out of touch with the legalization wave rolling through the United States would be an understatement. Sessions is a threat to states rights, the will of the voters and the legalization movement as a whole.
“Conversely, President Trump is on-the-record with his support for states rights and medical marijuana, promising a hands-off federal approach to states with legalization laws enacted. We are hopeful that the commander-in-chief, along with leaders from law enforcement, the civil rights community and cannabis activists, will take the opportunity to help enlighten Sessions on responsible drug policy reforms.”
Nikolas Schiller, DCMJ co-founder, added:
“Senator Sessions statements earlier this year are quite clear: it is up to Congress to pass legislation that absolves him of the responsibility of turning a blind eye towards cannabis. The silver lining is that if President Trump keeps his campaign promises, Sessions will judiciously use taxpayer dollars on the Federal enforcement of cannabis similar to the previous administration. I urge Congress to take up legislation that will allow the new Attorney General to focus his time on more important issues facing the American people.
“But if President Trump wants to take cash out of the hands of international drug cartels and create millions of tax-paying jobs, then America’s cannabis community is a willing partner. If President Trump wants to overhaul healthcare and help veterans, America’s medical cannabis community is also a willing partner. Partnerships make America great, but until cannabis is fully legalized, the full potential of America is not being achieved.
“Looking at the 2016 Election and the eight states that passed new responsible marijuana measures in November, an interesting political trend reveals itself: cannabis polls high across party lines—independents, Libertarians, Green Party, Republicans and Democrats. The evidence of this can be seen in the 28 states and the District of Columbia that have already enacted sensible drug policy reforms. Americans are now looking to the President and Congress to change the laws nationally and replace them with more common sense approaches towards cannabis. You don’t have to be a farmer or a political scientist to realize that Americans want President Trump and Congress to act now.”
Please email Press@DCMJ.org with any follow-up questions.
📸 We Need Your Photos For The New DCMJ Filter Tip Flyers!
We need your photos!
One of our favorite DCMJ outreach materials is the perforated filter tip flyer (see above & below). Each flyer breaks into 24 pieces of card stock that can be rolled up to make filters for your joints.
If you got a free joint at the Inaugural #Trump420, there is a very good chance your joint had one of the DCMJ filter tips at the end. In the last three years we’ve printed up & handed out five different editions and we’re ready to make the 2017 edition!
Can you help us out? Do you have photos from your home grow, of your cured buds, or photos from different DCMJ demonstrations that took place in 2016? Please pick out a couple of your favorite photos and upload them to our Dropbox!
Please only upload high-resolution photos that you took yourself and are not copyrighted. Feel free to include a text file if you want to provide more information about your photos, like strain name or the name of the demonstration the photo was taken at.
Once we have completed the new DCMJ filter tip flyer, we’ll share it in an upcoming email and have them available at upcoming Planning Meetings for you to use and give away to your friends. We consider these flyers to be the annual DCMJ yearbook where you’ll see faces you’ve seen and gotten to know through DCMJ. Please take a moment an upload your favorite photos!
The Inaugural #Trump420
UPDATED!
A big thank you goes out to the hundreds of volunteers and thousands of participants who helped make The Inaugural #Trump420 a huge success!
Below are some of the videos & news articles of the demonstration:
• Read More at Complex + Photos
• AFP: Marijuana activists hand out free joints for #Trump420 in DC
#SmokeSessions
Now for some good news: On Election Day nearly all of the cannabis-related ballot initiatives passed! (Sorry Arizona, you got outspent!) The number of Americans living in states with legal cannabis grew from roughly 17 million to over 67 million & counting. Before the election President Obama said “that is not gonna be tenable” for such a large number of Americans to live under one set of cannabis laws and others live under a different set laws. The time is ripe for Congress to pass legislation that will end the government’s harassment and arrests of peaceful cannabis users and their families!
Now for the bad news: Donald Trump has tapped one of the biggest prohibitionists in Congress to be the Attorney General of the United States: Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. Earlier this year the Alabama Senator said “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” and while we don’t know yet if he’ll respect states rights (or DC’s rights since we are not a state) or if he’ll do what John Ashcroft did as George W. Bush’s Attorney General: raid lawful cannabis grows, raid lawful dispensaries, and even go so far as crack down on paraphernalia vendors. Let’s not forget why Tommy Chong went to jail and why history may repeat itself if we don’t act NOW!
We can’t idly sit by and watch all the hard work we’ve done to legalize cannabis in DC be eroded by an out of touch prohibitionist!
We are calling for a series of demonstrations against Jeff Sessions between NOW and January 20, 2017.
JOIN US FOR THE #SMOKESESSIONS
Our first #SmokeSessions will be at his Congressional Office ( 326 Russell Senate Office Building ) Monday, November 28, at HIGH NOON!
—ROLL CALL: Pot Advocates Protest Jeff Sessions’ AG Nomination
— US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Pot Activists Get Jeff Sessions Staff Meeting After Insinuating They Would Stage Office Smoke-in
— VIDEO:
Our second #SmokeSessions was called #ShowSessions and took place at High Noon on Thursday, December 8.
US NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Activists Roll Joint, Offer Free Pot at Jeff Sessions Office as Threats Swirl to Legalization Framework
WASHINGTON TIMES: Legal weed advocates sneak marijuana into Jeff Sessions’ Senate office
#ShowSessions on Capitol Hill, Dec 08 2016 from Mike Flugennock
Our third #SmokeSessions will be at 8AM, Tuesday, January 3, 2017 outside Union Station. We’ll greet Senate staffers, interns, and members of Congress on their way to their first day in the 115th Congress. At 9:30am we’ll visit Senate offices and drop off suggested questions for Sessions’ confirmation hearing. Click here to RSVP on Facebook!
Our fourth #SmokeSessions will be at the Senate Judiciary Confirmation Hearing for Senator Sessions on Tuesday, January 10 and Wednesday, January 11. DCMJ is seeking volunteers to line sit outside the hearing room. Please fill out this Google Doc if you can help! You can also RSVP on Facebook for SmokeSessions #4 (aka HearSessions), but please note, an RSVP on Facebook does not get you inside the hearing room. The number of seats we get inside the hearing room is contingent on the number of line sitters who volunteer!
Our fifth #SmokeSessions will be at the Inauguration on January 20, 2017.
• We demand the President-Elect Trump make a clear and unequivocal statement that he supports the full-legalization of cannabis in every State. And to urge the 115th Congress to pass legislation that removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act within the first 100 days.
• Second, we demand Senator Sessions evolve on his position that cannabis users are not only good people, but they deserve the same treatment under the law as alcohol users, prescription drug users, and non-users.
• Third, we demand Senator Sessions allow the various States and the District of Columbia the authority to make their own laws concerning cannabis without Federal government intervention.
• Fourth, we demand Senator Sessions investigate the racial disparities of federal minimum sentencing guidelines and the associated costs to the American taxpayers for maintaining the largest prison system in the world.
Our demands call for a respect for personal liberty, States rights, and good governance.
Please help us out and spread the word by using the hashtag #SmokeSessions and inviting your friends to the upcoming demonstrations!
DCMJ Holiday Party
DCMJ Holiday Party / 2017 Planning Meeting
Join us from 7pm to 9pm, Thursday, December 8 at the Adams Morgan Mellow Mushroom (2436 18th St NW) for the DCMJ Holiday Party! We’ll provide free pizza to everyone who attends! We’ll also discuss the ongoing plans for #SmokeSessions actions as well as formulate DCMJ’s plans for 2017. We hope you will join us! Click here to RSVP!
Catharsis on the Mall: A Vigil for Healing – November 11-13, 2016
For the second year, DCMJ will be assisting in the production of Catharsis on the Mall. Scheduled to take place on Veteran’s Day weekend, November 11 to 13, on the National Mall in Washington, DC, Catharsis will feature speakers, workshops, interactive artwork, music, and feature the ceremonial burning of the Temple of Rebirth on the evening of Saturday, November 12.
Last year’s theme, “Healing from the Drug War,” was an amazing guide for the artwork. The theme creates connections and conversations when our diverse interests, knowledge, and backgrounds intersect. It is with great excitement we present the art theme for this year:
“The Journey Home”
Catharsis on the Mall’s 2016 art theme is dedicated to those who have experienced traumatic stress and their journey home.
We experience traumatic events that displace our mind, fracture our lives, and violate our perceptions. One moment can cause such upheaval, that it might seem impossible to return to that safe place we once knew. When our lives are ripped asunder, and we are left to pick up the pieces and stitch them back together, the struggle to recenter and find yourself feels insurmountable.
Traumatic stress was written in 760 BCE by a Greek poet, Homer, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, and studied by the historian Herodotus in 490 BCE. It has been present in every war ever fought. It has been present in every community that experiences rape, brutality, oppression, and systematic violence. Violence and disaster can have lasting impacts on body and mind.
Despite its timeless reach, it has widely been swept away and disregarded as a personal weakness, not a disease. The survivors of hellish trauma left to fend for themselves and often told they are “weak” or to “toughen up.” We have come along way.
Breaking through the cycles of anger, depression, and victimization with time, understanding, and forgiveness can lead us home to safe and comfortable place once more; a task infinitely easier to write than to perform. Communal experience and expression can lead to lasting transformation and peace. It can bring those who are ready home.
Home is where you feel at ease and safe. It is not pinned down to a physical location with a door and windows; it has no borders. It is a place where we take refuge and our base of operations. It is accepting and loving. We gather in this space.
We gather to celebrate wellness and reintegration. We gather for art and community. We gather to shake free from the stigmas of surviving. We gather to honor and support those who travel this road alongside us. We gather to end the silent suffering of millions. We are on the journey home together.
Participate
Catharsis on the Mall is built by the community, for the community. There will be lots of opportunities to participate at the vigil. We want your art to display, we want to hear your stories, and, most importantly, we need your help with building and running the event.
Click here to RSVP on Facebook!
Come to the Fundraiser on Thursday, November 3 at the Adams Morgan Mellow Mushroom!
Click here to RSVP on Facebook | Click here to buy advance tickets!
More details soon! Make sure you sign up for our e-mail list to find out the latest!
March of the Clones
Check out the video from March of the Clones:
“March Of The Clones” Washington DC 09.24.16 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.
For far too long the power of the Dark eeide (the DEA, the prison industrial complex, and ignorant members of Congress) has lead to the arrest and jailing of millions of Americans for non-violent drug offenses. As President Obama’s final days at the White House wind down, he needs to be reminded that he can be a Force of Good and end the failed war on drugs NOW.
On Saturday, September 24, 2016, we will gather at 2pm in Dupont Circle for a short rally, then at 3pm we will march 1 mile down Connecticut Ave. to the White House, and at 4:20pm we will engage in mass civil disobedience on Pennsylvania Ave.
We urge everyone to bring cannabis cuttings that weigh under an two ounces to create a sea of green to show President Obama that cannabis is a harmless plant not worthy of being in the Controlled Substances Act.
This is an unpermitted demonstration but is a first amendment protected activity. However, possession of cannabis on federal property is still a crime which we believe must end. Possessing cannabis in Dupont Circle and Lafayette Park (both National Parks) is unlawful and is an arrestable act of civil disobedience. Those wishing to participate but who do not wish to break law can join us on DC streets (Connecticut Ave. outside of Dupont Circle and Pennsylvania Ave. by way of 17th St.) without fear of arrest.
Please spread the word about the March of the Clones by inviting your friends on Facebook or tweeting about the demonstration using the hashtag #MarchOfTheClones !
RSVP for the Upcoming DCMJ Planning Meetings
Join us next month as we resume our regular, bi-weekly meetings!
DCMJ Planning Meeting #12
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 2016
TIME: 7-8:30PM
LOCATION: SHAW NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY
ADDRESS: 1630 7th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20001
CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK
DCMJ Planning Meeting #13
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 2016
TIME: 7-8:30PM
LOCATION: MT. PLEASANT NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY
ADDRESS: 3162 Mount Pleasant St NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20010
CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK
EMERGENCY LEGALIZATION DEMONSTRATION!
Last month we said that when the DEA makes it’s decision on cannabis descheduling we’d either protest or celebrate at 4:20pm on the day of the announcement.
Today is the day. Unfortunately, it is extremely hot today, so we are moving the emergency demonstration to 8:20 PM THIS EVENING!
The Obama Administration’s DEA is TONE DEAF on cannabis reform, so tonight our demonstration will feature #ToneDeafKaraoke
We will poorly sing ballads of reform, like the Obama Administration’s DEA has poorly reformed America’s cannabis policies.
We will insult the ears of everyone at the White House like they are insulting every American that believes in rational drug policy.
Here we are, 43 years and millions of marijuana arrests later, and we being told that cannabis is still as dangerous as heroin. WHAT THE HELL?!?! The Obama Administration’s DEA thinks Americans should go to jail for a non-toxic plant. WE THINK OTHERWISE!
We are going to take our outrage, anger, shear annoyance and we are going to make some noise! If you don’t want to sing, bring your pots and pans so Malia will hear you!
We’ve heard rumors angry activists may even throw their cannabis plants plants, seeds, and even lit joints over the White House fence.
THAT IS NOT ALL….
We are calling for a mass-mobilization on Saturday, September 24, 2016.
We are not going to sit by and let Obama, Hillary, or Trump get a pass on cannabis reform! The Time is NOW!
WHO: You, your friends, and everyone you forward this email to!
WHAT: EMERGENCY LEGALIZATION DEMONSTRATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE
WHEN: TONIGHT, Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 8:20pm
WHERE: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC, North of the White House
WHY: The Obama Administration’s DEA is out of touch with the American people’s demands for cannabis reform and need to be told that cannabis should be removed entirely from the Controlled Substances Act NOW!