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Cannabis Activists Land Meeting With President Obama To Reclassify Pot

Cannabis Activists Land Meeting With Obama To Reclassify Pot

Politics

Cannabis Activists Land Meeting With President Obama To Reclassify Pot

Cannabis activists who helped organize a number of protests recently have won an important meeting with the Obama Administration. Adam Eidinger and Nikolas Schiller are scheduled to meet with key White House officials this afternoon.

The two activists plan to use their meeting to lobby President Obama to change the legal classification of cannabis. Under federal laws, cannabis is currently a Schedule I drug along with heroin.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) defines Schedule I substances as “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules.”

Schedule I drugs usually carry the most severe criminal charges as well.

Critics of the U.S. government’s anti-cannabis laws have long said that the plant needs to be re-classified. And although it’s now legal in Washington D.C. to have up to two ounces of cannabis for personal use, Eidinger and Schiller plan to use their meeting today to urge Obama to reclassify marijuana at the federal level.

The movement for legalizing cannabis has been extremely active this month with multiple events held in the Washington D.C.

On April 2, cannabis activists gathered in front of the White House for a “smoke-in.” The group carried a massive 50-foot plastic float designed to look like a joint. And at 4:20 they all lit up as an act of civil disobedience.

Then, a week later, groups of cannabis enthusiasts met up in front of the White House for a cannabis seed giveaway and exchange. At the event people could share plant materials, trade seeds, or get their growing efforts started with some free cannabis seeds.

It’s unclear whether or not these recent actions played any role in the White House’s decision to give Eidinger and Schiller a chance to meet with officials.

But today’s meeting comes a little more than two weeks after the seed giveaway and less than a month after the smoke-in. The idea of reclassifying cannabis was brought up by the DEA itself earlier this month.

Cannabis activists gathered for a “smoke out” protest in Washington, D.C. last month.

Cannabis Activists Land Meeting With Obama To Reclassify Pot

Cannabis activists gathered last month to protest laws prohibiting the study of medicinal cannabis. Photo Leafly

In an April 4 memo sent to lawmakers, the DEA said it hoped to decide whether or not to reclassify cannabis sometime before the end of the summer.

If the DEA considers rescheduling cannabis it could have huge implications for every aspect of marijuana law in the United States.

(Photo Credit: CBS)

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