Next month, as President Obama settles in for his morning security briefing, people will be doing something pretty different four miles away. Washington, D.C. is set to host the National Cannabis Festival (NCF). After a year of planning, the event will kick off on April 23 at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium’s festival grounds, a few blocks east of the National Mall.
The one-day event will bring together a group of “cannabis policy advocates, business owners and enthusiasts” in the spirit of ending the marijuana prohibition.
I know what you’re thinking — If only the event was held three days earlier. Well, hopefully its music line-up and vendor list will make you feel better.
De La Soul will take the stage as the headline act, backed up with performances by Jesse Royal, Backyard Band, Congo Sanchez, and Nappy Riddem. The performers have been brought to the stage by “pro-legalization celebrities and politicians.” As for the vendors, everything from glass works to vape concentrates will be represented.
It’s more than a party
NCF isn’t so much about commerce or entertainment. It’s about the politics of marijuana legalization. In the past few years, legalization has come far. Today, four states have fully legalized recreational pot. Another 19 allow for medical cannabis use.
In November, 2014, 65 percent of District residents voted for Initiative 71 which legalized recreational pot use. Congress, though, is an obstacle. According to the Marijuana Policy Project:
“… Congress continues to block the [D.C. Council] from moving to tax and regulate marijuana. They have used an appropriations rider, which forbids the council to spend money on reducing penalties associated with the use, possession, or sale of marijuana.”
Despite 58 percent of Americans supporting marijuana legalization, the issue remains an uphill battle with the federal government. However, NCF takes its victories where it can get them. Holding a festival in the backyard of the institution that seems most driven to perpetuate the pot prohibition definitely serves its purpose.
Featured image courtesy of Guilhem Vellut/Flickr under an Attribution Creative Commons license.
