Friday morning will see the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. A Trump administration has drawn strong emotions from many Americans, who choose to express their feelings in different ways. Protests have been breaking out in different parts of the country, drawing the attention and resources of local law enforcement. But in Washington, D.C., if people at the ceremony decide to take it easy and self-medicate by smoking marijuana in public, they might just get a pass, since police have other concerns.
According to the local CBS station, activists are planning to encourage people to do just this, with 4,200 free joints expected to be pass around during Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, to be smoked during the inaugural address. In D.C., possession of small quantities of marijuana is legal, but smoking it in public is still against the law.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference that local officials and police are more concerned about unruly protesters than people smoking marijuana. Bowser said arresting pot smokers on Inauguration Day is not the “first priority” of authorities. Bowser is more concerned with making sure the ceremony, and any protests, are conducted peacefully.
Maybe she’s hoping a few thousand joints in the crowd will calm people down.
