Pot Lobby Softball Team Smokes White House, 5-2
The One Hitters, a Congressional Softball League team of marijuana reformers, continued their win-streak Wednesday night against the White House staff team with solid fielding and some choice hits.
STOTUS (Softball Team Of The United States) fought to remain competitive for the first few innings, taking a one-run lead in the top of the second inning. The One Hitter bats responded with two runs at the bottom of the inning. Impeccable teamwork in the field kept the pot coalition on top for a final score of 5-2.
"The fact that it was a close, well-played game all the way through made the game more fun, and victory even sweeter," said Dan Riffle, director of government relations with the Marijuana Policy Project. The One Hitters were the favorites going into Wednesday night's game after ashing the White House staffers 25-3 in their previous contest. Team members speculated that after last year's drubbing, President Obama may have made the game mandatory for all interns with high school or collegiate athletic experience.
The game between the One Hitters and STOTUS was a friendly contest and also a good opportunity to talk with staffers, said Morgan Fox, also with the MPP. President Obama had said while campaigning that he'd relax drug policy, but "now he ignores us," said Fox.
"He said he wouldn't use Justice Department resources to circumvent state laws on this issue, but that's exactly what he has done," said Riffle.
The team is undefeated in regular season play with seven wins in league play. Staffers from MPP, Americans for Safe Access, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Students for Liberty, and stopthedrugwar.org comprise the One Hitters' roster. MPP was a leading organization behind the passage of Colorado's Amendment 64, and is also behind lobbying efforts to pass medical marijuana legalization in Illinois and New Hampshire, according to Riffle.
The One Hitter takes all kinds. "We have libertarians, progressives, and labor unionists, but we have fun together over softball," said Clark Ruper, of Students for Liberty.
In previous One Hitters coverage, the Drug Czar's office refused to play the pot lobby's softball team.