WASHINGTON – Dozens of marijuana advocates protested with a 51-foot inflatable cylinder that looked like a joint during a protest near the White House Saturday.
The DCMJ group organized the protest they called the DC Cannabis Campaign and there was public marijuana use at 4:20 p.m. The group was using "#Reschedule420" on social media.
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The Secret Service kept protesters from advancing closer to the White House and later deflated the joint. A police officer appeared to have issued one smoker a ticket, but there were no arrests as of 6:20 p.m. President Barack Obama spent the day on the golf course.
Obama "smokes, maybe not now, but he did smoke," said Adam Eidinger, the chief organizer of the event. "So for him to oversee an enforcement regime that has arrested 5 million people for marijuana ... it's a discriminatory practice."
The group pushed for the successful ballot measure that legalized marijuana last year in Washington, D.C. But while carrying pot is legal for those older than 21, smoking it in public is not.
"While we have been able to drastically reduce arrests for marijuana possession in the District of Columbia, millions of Americans are not so lucky," the protesters' group said on Facebook.
Under federal law, using marijuana remains an offense. The Drug Enforcement Administration classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 substance. And federal penalties for marijuana possession are on par with those for heroin and ecstasy.
Local10.com partners The Washington Post and ABC News contributed to this story.
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