Four demonstrators were arrested after lighting up joints on the east side of the U.S. Capitol. At least one of those taken into custody also was arrested Thursday when marijuana advocates tried to hand out free joints on the Hill. News4’s Meagan Fitzgerald reports.
U.S. Capitol Police arrested four demonstrators for smoking marijuana on Capitol grounds, legal marijuana advocates said.
Demonstrators intended Monday's “smoke-in” to be an act of civil disobedience. Those lighting up want pot to be legalized nationwide and for the federal government not to interfere with states that already have legal pot.
Two men and two women were arrested by U.S. Capitol police shortly after they started smoking Monday afternoon, said Nikolas Schiller, a co-founder of the group D.C. Marijuana Justice (DCMJ).
The four were charged with possession, a violation of federal law, Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said.
It wasn't clear whether they had attorneys.
Those arrested included DCMJ co-founder Adam Eidinger. He also was arrested with seven others Thursday during a pot giveaway near the Capitol.
Before the arrests, speakers shared emotional stories about marijuana. One woman said it saved her little girl’s life.
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“My daughter went from 50 to 60 seizure a day, sometimes 12-15 minutes long,” she said. “Since she's been medicating with marijuana she is now 91 percent seizure-free.”
Others tried to make the case that it's less harmful than tobacco and alcohol.
But many think marijuana is a gateway drug to dangerous substances and argue it shouldn't be used by anyone, especially children.
