In celebration of the twentieth day of April, marijuana activists in Washington, D.C., gave away free joints to those working on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, Capitol Police cracked down on the goodwill gesture and arrested several people involved.
The joint giveaway was organized by local pot advocacy group DCMJ, which has engaged in similar events in the past. According to DCist, DCMJ members were sitting a table giving away the joints, but even though giving away weed is entirely legal in D.C., they were tripped up by a technicality: they were on federal lands, which made it a crime.
So far, six people have been arrested, including DCMJ cofounder Adam Eidinger. However, despite the arrests, the free weed giveaway carried on. After all, the group was planning to give away more than 1,000 joints.
“Things got a little interesting right now,” says Nikolas Schiller, the co-founder of DCMJ, told DCist. “The two people arrested “were sitting at the table where the joints were being given away, but I don’t know what they’re being charged with at this time.” Vocativ reached out for further comment.
Scenes from @DCMJ2014 #joint session 4/20 pot giveaway at Constitution Ave and 1st. NE @aeidinger @RachelRamone pic.twitter.com/PaYXywJc5C
— Tom Williams (@pennstatetom) April 20, 2017
2 more arrests… 6 total.#JointSession420 #CUinCourt pic.twitter.com/knK7HT9nS1
— DC Marijuana Justice💨🏛💨🏛 (@DCMJ2014) April 20, 2017
In other states with legal marijuana, including Colorado and Washington, the day saw festivals and smoke-outs in observance of what has become weed’s worldwide official holiday.
This story originally appeared on Vocativ and has been republished with permission.