Pubdate: Thu, 11 Dec 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Andrea Noble

D.C. SCRAMBLES TO PRESERVE POT LAWS

Federal Budget Rider Blocks Voter Referendum

The congressional architect of an amendment in a massive federal 
spending bill that rolled back new D.C. marijuana laws says the bill 
will block the city's voter-approved referendum legalizing 
recreational use of the drug, despite assertions from local leaders 
that the initiative could stand.

The addition of the "rider" in the $1.1 trillion budget measure 
released Tuesday sent D.C. lawmakers and activists scrambling 
Wednesday to determine the extent of the damage the amendment could 
cause as well as to lobby to have it removed.

Activists were quick to gather on Capitol Hill, with several holding 
a sit-in at the office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada 
Democrat, until a policy adviser agreed to meet to discuss the issue. 
Protests were also planned near the Capitol on Wednesday night.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting 
representative in Congress, sought to introduce her own amendment 
Wednesday to repeal the language that would prevent the District from 
using local funds to "enact or any law, rule, or regulation to 
legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the 
possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance."

The rider was similar to the language of an amendment made to a 
previous spending bill by Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland Republican, who 
has publicly opposed loosening marijuana laws because of the effect 
it would have on children's health.

Earlier in the day, Ms. Norton floated the theory that the 
legalization referendum could not be blocked by the amendment because 
it should have been considered enacted when 70 percent of voters 
supported it at the ballot box Nov. 4.

"Unlike the Harris rider, the omnibus rider does not block D.C. from 
'carrying out' enacted marijuana policies," Ms. Norton said. "D.C.'s 
Initiative 71, it can be argued, was enacted when it was approved 
overwhelmingly by voters in November and was self-executing - i.e., 
it did not require enactment of any rules for its implementation. 
Therefore, it can be argued that the legalization of small amounts of 
marijuana can proceed."

But a spokesman for Mr. Harris said the amendment's language would 
absolutely prevent the referendum from taking effect.

The District's Office of the Attorney General is reviewing the 
matter, spokesman Ted Gest said.

The D.C. Council has yet to transmit the initiative to Congress for 
the mandatory legislative review that all new city laws must undergo.

Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser issued a statement Wednesday saying she 
would work to "ensure that our laws clear and enforceable."

"I will continue to push hard to preserve the will of the people of 
the District of Columbia and its lawmakers," she said.

The amendment does not appear to upend a law adopted by the D.C. 
Council earlier this year that removes the criminal penalties for 
possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

"I am glad Congress is going to, in a bipartisan way, uphold federal 
law to protect our youth by preventing legalization in Washington, 
D.C." Mr. Harris said in a statement.

Chris Meekins, Mr. Harris' spokesman, said the "carrying out" phrase 
cited by Ms. Norton was removed from this version in order to avoid 
confusion around whether the amendment would strike the city's 
current drug laws. Over the summer when the initial rider emerged, 
pro-pot activists countered that, if the city was blocked from 
carrying out its new marijuana decriminalization policies, marijuana 
would become legal as a result.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom