Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
UPDATE 2:30 pm : Seven people were arrested after attempting to distribute marijuana on Capitol Hill, according to DCMJ.
Another @DCMJ2014 pro-marijuana volunteer giving away free joints on #CapitolHill arrested by @CapitolPolicepic.twitter.com/NEJTh7SJMp
— Q McCray (@ABC7Q) April 20, 2017
DCMJ leader Adam Eidinger was among those taken away by police.
“I’ve been arrested by the Capitol Police before. They know I’m a peaceful person,” Eidinger told WMAL Wednesday.
He said that he thought the worst case scenario charges would be a misdemeanor possession with intent to distribute cannabis.
The US Capitol Police put out the following statement:
” At approximately 12:18 p.m. today, United States Capitol Police (USCP) officers began arresting several individuals after witnessing them distributing marijuana in public view to passersby at First and Constitution Avenue, NE.
Under federal law, it is unlawful to possess marijuana. As of 2:30 p.m., one adult male and two adult female arrestees were charged with 21 USC 841(a) (possession with intent to distribute). Four adult females were charged with 21 USC 844(a) (possession). They were taken to USCP Headquarters for processing.”
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) It’s not a federal holiday, but marijuana advocates are hoping to get some federal workers to celebrate the pot-smoking holiday 4/20 with them Thursday.
The DCMJ stood at the intersection of 1st St. and Constitution Avenue NE giving away two 1200 free joints, two each while supplies last to anyone with a Congressional ID.
“I suppose the Capitol Police officer could charge us under federal law for distribution on the spot, but I think it would set up an amazing case that we would have basically the Home Rule Act versus the Controlled Substances Act,” said the group’s leader Adam Eidinger.
The Home Rule Act is a federal law that gives D.C. some control over its own local affairs. In 2015, D.C. legalized recreational use of marijuana in private homes. The Controlled Substances Act is a federal law that makes it illegal to possess cannabis. Even though D.C. and other places have legalized recreational use of marijuana, the federal government still classifies it as a Schedule I drug.
Eidinger warned any Congressional employees who do take advantage of the freebies to leave Capitol Hill and smoke the joints elsewhere so they don’t get arrested. He and the advocates are hoping Thursday’s event and other protests will encourage Congress to change laws governing use of marijuana.
“If you can bring a fifth of Scotch to a Congressman, if you can bring a cigar from Cuba to Capitol Hill, which is legal to do, you should be able to bring cannabis into the hall of congress as well, especially if it’s legal in many states,” Eidinger said.
Eidinger acknowledged that many Congressional employees are drug tested and didn’t recommend anyone who signed a contract agreeing not to smoke take part.
Many people wonder how the number 420 came to be associated with marijuana. The association appears to have originated in California, and legend has it that “420” was derived from a state penal code or police radio code. Those stories appear to be more myth than truth.
Another legend is to Bob Dylan’s song, “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” and its lyric, “Everybody must get stoned.”
Multiply 12 by 35 and you get 420.
Seems a bit of a stretch. And Dylan himself has never confirmed any link.
The story that appears to hold the most water is …
The legend of the Waldos
According to Chris Conrad, curator of the Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum in Oakland, California, 420 started as a secret code among high schoolers in the early 1970s.
A group of friends at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California, who called themselves “the Waldos,” would often meet at 4:20 p.m. to get high.
For them, it was an ideal time: They were out of school but their parents still weren’t home, giving them a window of unsupervised freedom. They met at that time every day near a statue of Louis Pasteur, the scientist who pioneered pasteurization.
The 4:20 time became a code for them to use in front of their unsuspecting parents, and 420 gradually spread from there — possibly via Grateful Dead followers — across California and beyond. It’s even the number of a California Senate bill that established the state’s medial marijuana program.
What was shorthand for a group of friends can now be seen on T-shirts, in Tinder bios (420 friendly) and throughout pop culture.
And of course, on the calendar every April.
CNN contributed content to this report.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: DCMJ twitter)
