A group of roughly 50 cannabis advocates from across the D.C. region demonstrated on Tuesday afternoon outside the Russell Senate Building on Capitol Hill, calling on U.S. Senators to lift a ban on recreational weed sales in the District and to legalize the drug at the federal level. The protestors paraded a 51-foot inflatable joint — a nod to the movement for D.C. statehood — as they blasted music and shouted slogans like “Weed them out!” Meanwhile, lawmakers in the Senate were rushing to prevent a looming government shutdown as Democrats and Republicans sparred over budget legislation for the upcoming fiscal year and whether to raise the federal debt ceiling.
