Annual Marijuana Reform Rally In Washington D.C. July 4th
Washington, DC: Medical marijuana patients,and supporters will converge on Wednesday July 4th in the nation’s capitol for the Rally to Reschedule Marijuana as Medicine & 43rd Annual Smoke-In.
The event will begin at noon across from the White House at Lafayette Park (located at 16th Street and H Street). Join medical marijuana pioneer Dennis Peron, along with Richard Eastman, Kim Quiggle, John Pylka, Miguel Lopez and Wayward Bill as we rally to educate our elected officials and voters, march and demonstrate for our first amendment rights, and the right to choose the medicine we put into our bodies, marijuana. For more information visit smoke-in.org
The main points about the demonstration are:
1.) Reschedule Now – Our federal government is long overdue to remove Marijuana from the list of schedule 1 controlled substances.
2.) Tell President Obama, “keep your promise”, end the federal raids against state-legalized medical marijuana dispensaries.
3.) Dennis Peron, author of Prop. 215, Will be coming to Washington DC on July 4th to deliver this message in front of the White House.
4.) The U.S. Marijuana Party will be holding it’s first annual political convention at the Smoke-In.
5.) This Demonstration is part of the “Get The Greed Out Of The Weed Tour 2012”.
Richard Eastman and Kim Quiggle, organizers of the “Get The Greed Out Of The Weed Tour“, are excited about the July 4th demonstration, and are currently putting out a call to medical marijuana activists and supporters for the Rally in front of the White House. “The purpose of this Rally is to convince President Obama that a lot of us don’t have years to wait for medical marijuana to be rescheduled,” said Rally organizer and AIDS patient Richard Eastman, ” Re-elect the President! But as I said before, I don’t know if I have five more years to fight for this in Congress.”
“We’re looking forward to having Dennis Peron give the key note address urging President Obama to reschedule marijuana as medicine.” explains event coordinator, John Pylka, “The time is now, and we expect several hundred marijuana activists from all over the United States to attend the Rally.”
At 3:00pm, Miguel Lopez, from Denver Colorado and organizer of “Denver 420“, will lead a March of patients and activists from the White House to the the Smoke-In Concert site near the Lincoln Memorial. “People should be engaged directly with people, face to face”, he says. “And That’s what we will do on July 4th in Washington DC”.
The U.S. Marijuana Party will also be convening for a political convention at the Concert site located at the Henry Bacon Ball Field (23rd & Constitution Avenue NW). “I am happy and enthusiastic to announce that the US Marijuana Party will be holding it’s first ever political convention at this year’s 43rd Annual Smoke-In.” said Wayward Bill Chengelis, Chairman of the US Marijuana Party.
The demonstration concludes with a medical marijuana rights concert on the National Mall featuring supporting artists: Unfortunate Sons, Thomas Wynn & the Believers, THE I-TERNALS and Bat Man, This free concert will take place during the early evening and concludes with the National Park Service Fireworks display at 9:00pm.
However, on the day America celebrates it’s freedom, organizers expect activists to exercise some self-control and not “Choom” marijuana at the demonstration. “It is not the goal of this demonstration to engage in civil disobedience by smoking marijuana. ” said John Pylka, The Smoke-In’s organizer, “The Annual Smoke-In has evolved and currently this demonstration is about celebrating what we love about marijuana culture and standing up to the federal government’s crackdown on medical marijuana,” explains Mr. Pylka, who lives in Mount Pleasant. “I’m so proud to be supporting this event because I know these patients deserve equality and respect in our community.”
The Smoke-In, which began in 1970, was built on the success of it’s early years with the Yippies! and Dana Beal, and has become the longest running annual demonstration supporting drug policy reform in the United States. “The Smoke-In has spirit! It’s not just an event, it’s a way for people to get connected and celebrate what the marijuana culture has created in our community” says John Pylka, “It brought people to the streets, but it also got residents involved in building something positive.
Adding, “For many years this demonstration has been a breeding ground for our homegrown cultural movement, and part of that has always been about people here seeing a gap and saying ‘We want to bridge that gap, even if we have to make that bridge ourselves’ — so that’s what the event is really about, tapping into the marijuana movement’s spirit and heritage.”
For more information, please contact Richard Eastman, Rally Organizer, at (323) 474-4602 or John Pylka, Event Coordinator at (202) 705-8647.
