Cannabis activist group DC Marijuana Justice plans to offer weed gift bags to people who get the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States capital Washington DC, the organisation has announced, writes Hannah Frishberg for the New York Post.
“We are looking for ways to safely celebrate the end of the pandemic and we know nothing brings people together like cannabis,” wrote DCMJ co-founder Nikoas Schiller in a press release for the initiative, dubbed ‘Joints for Jabs’.
The group plans to hand out free ganja baggies at Washington DC vaccination sites, both to commemorate what is hopefully the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic and as advocacy for both reefer and getting vaccinated.
“To celebrate this momentous occasion and thank people for getting vaccinated, dozens of DC home-growers will lawfully distribute free bags of cannabis outside vaccination centres as soon as the general public is able to get vaccinated,” the release says.
It further quotes Schiller as saying: “When enough adults are inoculated with the coronavirus vaccine, it will be time to celebrate – not just the end of the pandemic, but the beginning of the end of cannabis prohibition in the United States.”
The New York Post article, published on 18 January 2021, continues: DC’s Department of Health has not yet named the public vaccination sites, but DCMJ says they will release further details once the addresses and hours of operation have been made public.
Local growers have already pledged three pounds of cannabis for the giveaway, and DCMJ hopes to have five pounds by the time they begin offering them to freshly vaccinated members of the public, the Washington publication CDist reported.
The organisers plan to distribute loose cannabis, as opposed to pre-rolled joints, says the New York Post. Handing out free joints, they learned after doing this during President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, leads to people smoking them on site and violating city law.
Joints are also problematic in terms of COVID-19 health protocols. “Four years ago, we handed out over 10,000 joints – and we licked those joints,” DCMJ co-founder Adam Eidinger told DCist. “Today, we think that’s an issue.”
[link url="https://nypost.com/2021/01/18/how-to-get-a-free-bag-of-weed-with-your-covid-19-vaccine/"]Full New York Post story – How to get a free bag of marijuana with the COVID-19 vaccine (Open access)[/link]
[link url="https://dcmj.org/joints-for-jabs-press-release/"]DCMJ press release – DC Marijuana Justice to Reward Free Cannabis at Vaccination Sites Across the District of Columbia in Spring 2021 (Open access)[/link]
See also from MedicalBrief's archives
[link url="https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/we-should-not-allow-a-cannabis-free-for-all-yale-ethicist/"]We should not allow a cannabis free-for-all – Yale ethicist[/link]
[link url="https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/united-nations-and-united-states-reclassify-cannabis-as-less-risky-narcotic/"]United Nations – and United States – reclassify cannabis as less risky narcotic[/link]