By Rachel Sadon and Rachel Kurzius
For about 10 minutes, it looked like marijuana advocates got their way: the D.C. Council overturned a ban on private cannabis clubs. But it didn’t last long.
The Council initially voted 7-6 to keep legislation that prohibited restaurants, bars, and other venues from allowing pot smoking, a measure that Mayor Muriel Bowser has steadfastly supported. Because it was an emergency bill, it required a supermajority, or nine votes, to pass.
Ending the ban was a top priority for marijuana reform advocates, and they lobbied councilmembers hard in recent weeks. At a hearing in December, dozens testified that the prohibition on private clubs hurts the poor and patients who can’t smoke at home because they live in public housing or have young children around.
But after swift lobbying from the administration in the wake of the vote, Councilmembers Charles Allen (Ward 6) and LaRuby May (Ward 8) changed their votes. That led to an unexpected second vote of 9-4, keeping the ban—and the status quo—in place.
“The Mayor has long supported regulating marijuana like alcohol, but because of Congress our hands are tied. Failing to extend the ban would have led to an unworkable system of pot clubs with no way to regulate its sale or consumption,” Michael Czin, a spokesman for Bowser said in a statement. “The law remains clear: small amounts of marijuana are legal for adults for home growth and home use.”
LaToya Foster, a spokeswoman for Bowser, confirmed that “numerous calls” were placed to councilmembers while they were sitting at the dais, though she wouldn’t say if the mayor had personally made them.
“I got a phone call from the mayor, who asked specifically for me to make a motion to reconsider,” Allen told DCist. “This is an emergency stop-gap. I’ve got the mayor and chief [of police] telling me they’ve got serious concerns. They didn’t have enforcement in place.”
Allen’s vote isn’t a reflection of his view on allowing pot clubs. “I don’t have a problem with letting this ban expire,” he says. “Voters of the District said that we view smoking marijuana as something that is frankly not that big of a deal.”
At-large Councilmembers David Grosso and Vincent Orange, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, and Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau voted no both times.
Chair of the Judiciary Committee Kenyan McDuffie committed to moving forward permanent legislation in the coming weeks.
Washingtonians overwhelmingly voted to legalize the possession of marijuana through Initiative 71, which went into effect in February. It allows people who are 21 or older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana at a time for personal use and grow up to six plants (only three of which can be mature at a time). Smoking marijuana in public places is illegal, and while Washingtonians can give away up to one ounce of pot, they cannot receive payment in return. The city launched a public health campaign this month educating adults about the law, and kids about the possible dangers of partaking. Meanwhile, Congress has continued to block spending on a scheme to tax and regulate its sale.
Shortly after legalization went into effect, Bowser pushed for emergency legislation that would bar smoking pot in any place where the public is invited, such as a bar or restaurant.
But this morning, Orange and several other Council members argued that the ban negatively impacts public housing residents, who by law cannot smoke in their homes, as well as those who have kids. And Nadeau argued that the topic doesn’t rise to the occasion for “emergency” legislation.
But others weren’t swayed. Cheh said that removing the ban while working on permanent legislation would result in a “wild west” of pot regulations.
“I didn’t want to go to a situation of chaos, where you couldn’t even keep minors out,” Cheh told DCist. “My view was—okay, let’s keep this in place until we know legally what we can and can’t do, given the way Congress has tied our hands.”
After cheering the initial vote, activists found their hopes dashed. “Initiative 71 sought to remove marijuana from the criminal justice system and did not place restrictions on marijuana use by adults; the emergency act adopted yesterday ignores those principles and the will of the voters,” said Kaitlyn Boecker, a policy associate with the Drug Policy Alliance. “If the Council wishes to clarify the legality of private marijuana clubs, it should do so through tailored and narrow legislation, not by criminalizing all marijuana consumption outside a residence.”
Despite the setback, though, marijuana advocates say they’re still optimistic that new permanent legislation will allow for some sort of private use.
“I’m open to regulation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m for it,” says Adam Eidinger, who led advocacy efforts for the successful ballot initiative. “But what [Bowser] proposed is not regulation it’s a ban.”
The D.C. Marijuana Justice Campaign has proposed allowing social use at private, ticketed events. “[The administration] is thinking about it the wrong way,” Eidinger says. The Council, he argues, should be looking at “how to allow this to be done without any licensing, but within certain parameters, for how an existing business can allow cannabis.”
In addition to another hearing on the legislation, advocates with DCMJ and several other drug reform groups are slated to meet with the mayor later this month. “Hopefully we’ll hammer out a compromise where the mayor can get what she wants, which I think is to prevent the city from being a pot tourism destination,” Eidinger says, “and we can get what we want, which is a place to use cannabis outside the home lawfully.”
“The next week or two should be really interesting.” He added, hopefully: “I think the mayor would like to look good on this issue instead of looking like the Debbie Downer of Cannabis.”
