Bridget Reed Morawski
WASHINGTON (WMAL) — The DC Cannabis Campaign, led by campaign manager Adam Eidinger, returns to the White House today for a followup demonstration to last month’s smoke in after an unsatisfactory listening session with White House officials.
Aptly timed to begin at 5:20pm on 5/20, hundreds of protesters are expected to arrive at the White House to further protest the scheduling of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, as well as to solicit further discussion with White House officials.
Last month, the campaign brought thousands of protesters to DC to smoke in front of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A 51 foot inflatable joint was in attendance, along with a majority of protesters who lit up in solidarity to the cause – though only two participants were fined for their public pot smoking.
This time, however, the campaign intends to host a die-in. Dozens of veterans will lie in front of the White House gates, surrounded by empty bottles of their prescription opioid painkillers.
A die-in protest is a form of non-violent demonstration where, essentially, protesters play dead to drive home their point that they believe people are dying as a result of some policy or lack thereof.
Protesters met with officials from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy last month to advocate for their preferred choice of pain management.
However, according to Eidinger, there was not a dialogue as the protesters had hoped for, and officials refused to take a photo with the group to document their meeting. The officials listened politely, but essentially did not respond to the supporters. Since that meeting, Eidinger has not been able to secure any additional meetings.
“There’s no followup, there’s no continuation,” said Eidinger. “So we’re saying to the White House, if you won’t actually continue to talk to these medical marijuana patients, we’re going to have to keep protesting.”
The goal of the DC Cannabis Campaign is to encourage President Barack Obama to address marijuana classification in his last year in office. By classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug, it is categorized in the same way as heroin, LSD, and ecstasy.
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