Irv Rosenfeld and president of US Marijuana Party clash with D.C. police over marijuana candy, joints

Federal medical marijuana patient Irvin Rosenfeld and the president of the US Marijuana Party William A. Chengelis were involved in separate incidents with Washington, D.C. federal police on Monday that resulted in one arrest.

Greg Pawlowski of Detroit, reporting on behalf of the American Cultivator and Partie T.V., told The Compassion Chronicles that the Chengelis incident stems from the transfer of a medical marijuana candy from Chengelis to a second person while on federal property. Chengilis was arrested and was scheduled for a bond hearing on the 18th.

Russ Belleville wrote on The Weed Blog that the potential penalty for 'Wayward Bill' Chengelis as a misdemeanor is a fine of up to $1,000 and a year in federal prison.

Rosenfeld was detained by D.C. police when when he was discovered with his infamous tin of federally- issued marijuana cigarettes. The nationally-known cannabis advocate was released after a few hours without being arrested. He was seated only a few feet away when the police officers cuffed Chengelis, according to Pawlowski.

"We had our Partie T.V. cameras set up. Robert Platshorn had some signage made up that was on display. Everything was fine until a police supervisor came downstairs," Pawloswki explains. "She said no cameras, no signs. What started as an interaction with a single officer quickly built to two officers, then five, then seven. At one point we thought that they were going to search every one of the lobby day participants."

The officers were hovering around Chengelis, who was standing in front of Rosenfeld's table, when they suddenly closed ranks. After emptying his pockets Chengelis was allegedly found to be in possession of candies made of cannabis and was accused of transferring at least one of them to another person. He was handcuffed on the spot.

"All the cameras had been put away, but the minute they started to put the handcuffs on Wayward Bill a hundred cameras came out and started clicking," Pawlowski recounts.

Rosenfeld and Chengelis were in Washington D.C. to participate in the Senior Day and Lobby. Originally begun as a lobbying effort by Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the event was expanded when they partnered with Robert Platshorn and his Silver Tour of cannabis-supporting senior citizens. The lobby event was in support of House Bill 1523, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013.

Irv Rosenfeld is an author and lecturer who tours the country speaking on marijuana-related subjects. Rosenfeld is one of a few people still living that were part of a now-closed federal experimental drug program and as such he receives a tin of medical marijuana cigarettes grown, packaged and issued by the federal government every month.  The tin can be seen in the picture above.

"I was completely moved by the presence of those that really could not afford to participate but did so anyway," Pawlowski said. "The event was a very positive experience which included interactions with legislators. I personally met with the staff of Gary Peters and Sander Levin and encouraged them to vote to allow participants in state medical marijuana programs to continue to do so without federal interference."

Look for more information on the D.C. event in the next issue of The American Cultivator. http://theamericancultivator.com/