Photo by Matt Cohen.
For a brief moment, it seemed as though this would all go down fairly easy.
Yesterday, Mayor Muriel Bowser and local officials outlined how they’re going to enforce marijuana legalization in the District, allowing for D.C. residents to possess, consume, and grow small amounts of pot in their own homes. With the clock ticking for Congress to intervene—the law is scheduled to take effect tomorrow at 12:01 a.m.—pot legalization in D.C. was poised to take effect with little trouble.
But two Republican leaders in the House of Representatives say that it would be illegal for the District to move forward with marijuana legalization. In a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser, first reported by the Post, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) warn that she will be arrested if she moves forward with legalization.
In November, District voters overwhelmingly voted on an initiative to legalize small amounts of marijuana for possession, consumption, and cultivation in the comfort of their own private residences. Since then, the District has been in a tumultuous struggle with Congress over the voter-approved initiative, which has doubled as a struggle over Home Rule rights.
In a $1.1 trillion spending bill, the House Appropriations Committee successfully attached a rider preventing the District from using any funds to legalize marijuana. But advocates and city officials say that the law was already enacted when it was voted in November and that Congress’ rider wasn’t valid since the law was already enacted. The only thing that can prevent it, advocates say, is an official Resolution of Disapproval introduced and passed by Congress before the 30-day review period is up. With less than 24 hours to go, the likelihood of that happening is slim.
But Chaffetz and Meadows’ letter falls back on the rider’s language, asserting that it would be unlawful for Bowser to carry out Initiative 71. Furthermore, the letter warns that she could be arrested if she does carry it out. “If you decide to move forward tomorrow with the legalization of marijuana in the District, you will be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law,” the letter reads.
Bowser, along with other city officials, have emphasized that they are committed to carrying out the will of the voters, which means we’re in the middle of a bona fide Congressional showdown.
You can read the full letter below:
