Of all the grassroots protests in the U.S. after Donald Trump took over as President, the one by grass smokers appears to be on a high. The estimated 20 million regular weed smokers — and many more occasional ones — are a worried lot after the new administration declared stronger enforcement of federal law that criminalises possession and use of marijuana.

A group of pot activists stood on a narrow strip of land outside the U.S. Capitol and distributed joints to Congressional staffers late last month. The strip that they stood on was in District of Columbia, where growing, possessing and giving away marijuana is legal, but their hands stretched into federal land, where there is no local law to protect them. Seven of them were arrested and removed, but they managed to pass the message directly to a hundred-plus Congressional aides by then. The event was billed “joint session”, and to protest the arrests they came back a few days later for a “smoke in”, where activists smoked grass in public — which is illegal in the District also. The campaign urged Americans from all across to travel to the capital and “smoke out the office of your member of Congress”.

War on drugs

America’s war on drugs predates its war on terror, and marijuana smokers are hit badly. It is a Schedule 1 controlled substance, in the company of heroine, and considered to be of no medicinal use. In contrast, cocaine is in Schedule 2, and less restricted. Every third minute, an American is arrested on drug charges, often triggering a cycle of incarceration and rearrests, setting his or her life on a downward spiral. African Americans are four times more likely to be arrested than white Americans.

Over the decades, Americans have come to realise the futility of sledgehammer law enforcement against a problem that many now feel is a social and medical issue. In 1969, only 12% of them supported legalisation of marijuana, but in 2016, 60% were in support. In November 2016, a dozen States put cannabis on the ballot, and on the day Mr. Trump was elected, eight States relaxed restrictions. Today, 44 States allow legal use of marijuana in some form; and in eight its recreational use is also allowed. Multiple State laws and the federal law that conflict with them are throwing grass smokers off gear. The objective, therefore, is to have a legal architecture that allows a person to “drive from Washington D.C. all the way to California with marijuana, without the fear of arrest,” says Adam Eidinger, who started the campaign that led to partial legalisation of marijuana in the District. In D.C., many people grow cannabis in their backyards these days.

Libertarians and progressives in the U.S. support relaxation of the law. Some argue for a complete withdrawal of the federal Controlled Substances Act and leave the regulation of drugs to the States. Critics point out that the $27 billion spent on enforcement in a year is only adding to the problem. They also cite America’s experiment with alcohol prohibition in the early 20th century, which not only failed, but also created massive social problems. Mr. Trump himself was a supporter of leaving the topic to the States, but his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, has announced stricter enforcement of the federal law.

Many members of Congress support the rollback of the federal law. Mr. Eidinger and his supporters are trying to push them. They distributed free joints on the presidential inauguration day in January. “God made pot! God made pot!” they chanted as Mr. Trump opened his speech. Their slogan is ‘Make America High Again’.

Varghese K. George writes for The Hindu and is based in Washington.