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 "I hope to establish an ongoing dialogue with the White House and
cannabis reformers," said Adam Eidinger, co-founder of the DCMJ
activist group.
"This meeting is hopefully the beginning of many meetings where the
White House will make reforms before this administration's time
ends," said Eidinger, who has led efforts to legalize pot in the
nation's capital.
The White House had no immediate comment. President Barack Obama's
final term ends in January.
DCMJ had written to Obama, his senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, and
other White House officials asking for a meeting. A source at the
group said the meeting on Monday would be held with officials from
the White House's Office of Public Engagement, but he did not know
exactly what marijuana issues they wanted to discuss.
The group wants the federal government to remove marijuana from the
so-called list of Schedule One drugs that includes substances like
heroin and cocaine. Activists say many Americans, especially blacks
and Latinos, are needlessly jailed and medical research into
cannabis is delayed because of the 1970 Controlled Substances Act
that initiated the listing. It was signed into law by former
President Richard Nixon.
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Obama has long said he supports decriminalizing marijuana but not
legalizing it. He has called for reform of the criminal justice
system for disproportionately incarcerating African-Americans for
non-violent drug offenses like possession.
Last year, Obama, who has been open about smoking pot in high
school, said young people should care more about issues like climate
change than legalizing the substance.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Chris Reese and Tom Brown)
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