def extractDates(inp, tz=None, now=None):
    """Extract semantic date information from an input string.
    This is a convenience method which would only be used if
    you'd rather not initialize a DateService object.

    Args:
        inp (str): The input string to be parsed.
        tz: An optional Pytz timezone. All datetime objects returned will
            be relative to the supplied timezone, or timezone-less if none
            is supplied.
        now: The time to which all returned datetime objects should be
            relative. For example, if the text is "In 5 hours", the
            datetime returned will be now + datetime.timedelta(hours=5).
            Uses datetime.datetime.now() if none is supplied.

    Returns:
        A list of datetime objects extracted from input.
    """
    service = DateService(tz=tz, now=now)
    return service.extractDates(inp)