Photo by clarissa.stark

While the D.C. Council is chugging along in the process to pass new legislation that would decriminalize small possession of marijuana, the advocacy group DCMJ 2014 has been slowly working to propose a ballot initiative to legalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the District. Last month, DCMJ—which is headed by Capital Hemp co-owner and marijuana activist—Adam Eidinger submitted the final language for the ballot initiative to the D.C. Board of Elections, and, if it’s approved and the required 23,000 signatures are gathered, it’ll be on the November 2014 ballot.

But recent opposition from D.C. Attorney General Irv Nathan might cause problems for DCMJ’s efforts, WAMU reports. In a letter to the board yesterday, Nathan expressed his concerns with the marijuana legalization initiative, saying that it would violate federal law and thus should not be included on the November ballot.

“The Initiative is improper because its prohibition on denying any benefit based on conduct that it purports to make lawful is incompatible with at least one area of federal law involving District-provided benefits: federal public housing law,” Nathan writes in the letter.

DCMJ’s initiative proposes legalizing the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and the cultivation of up to three marijuana plants in one’s home, allowing residents to give away up to one ounce of home-cultivated marijuana. Eidinger and DCMJ would still need to collect 23,000 signatures before the initiative would go on the ballot, but the Board of Elections needs to approve the ballot initiative before they can start collecting signatures. If Nathan’s letter sways the board, then it’s back to the drawing board for DCMJ. They’ll have to resubmit new language in full.