legalization update!
Is it good or bad news? (we’ll hoping it’s a good one!)
Under a bicameral omnibus spending package released by congressional leaders early Wednesday morning, allowing recreational marijuana sales would remain a pipe dream. However, a separate clause in the bill that protects state and territorial medicinal cannabis programs from federal meddling is anticipated to pass both chambers this week. The ongoing cannabis trade blockade in Washington, D.C. Supporters had hoped that the Democratic-controlled Congress would delete the rider, as the House did last year in its version and the Senate did in a draft version released by the Appropriations Committee. Activists also wanted the present state medical marijuana protection wording to be expanded to safeguard all state cannabis programs from Justice Department action, however, that didn't happen.
Currently, Washington, D.C. When it comes to legal marijuana, it's a bit of a grey area. Initiative 71, passed by voters in 2014, legalizing personal use, possession, and home growing – but not sales. Though city officials believe they aren't legal and have sought to shut them down, there is a healthy market of "gifting" stores and services — Initiative 71 also allows people to give away small amounts of marijuana — there is a healthy market of "gifting" stores and services.
Whether it's figuring out how to ensure that any new industry benefits residents who have been disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, or dealing with the looming and persistent opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill, legalizing marijuana sales in the nation's capital will be a tall order — and one that could take a long time.
Here are some of the significant concerns that local legislators and authorities will have to face.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans are resisting.
While it's notable that the council is beginning to discuss legalizing marijuana sales, the reality is that it isn't up to the council to decide whether or not marijuana sales will be authorized in the end. Not yet, at least. The six-year-old legislative embargo on D.C. will hang over today's events. Legalizing sales – enacted in 2014 after voters approved personal use, possession, and home cultivation. Despite the fact that Democrats control both houses of Congress and have already attempted to abolish the so-called Harris Rider, it's still uncertain whether or not the restriction will be lifted. (It's worth noting that the Harris Rider was not included in President Biden's budget proposal earlier this year.)
Stores and services that provide gifts
You may think that marijuana sales are already legal in D.C. if you didn't know otherwise. After all, there are already physical businesses and easy delivery services that can provide you with marijuana in almost any form. However, they exist in a gray area of the law, and lawmakers will have to decide if they are allowed to move into a future legal market. Because of a modest provision in Proposal 71, the 2014 ballot initiative that legalized marijuana possession, which allows anyone to offer someone else a small amount of marijuana, the businesses and delivery services exist. Most of these "gifting" companies and services will sell you a pricey sticker or item of apparel and give you the marijuana of your choice as a gift, thanks to some clever entrepreneurs.
Equity
More than a dozen states have legalized marijuana sales, with one common element being that there is a lot of money to be made. Another theme is that much of the money went to white company owners and conglomerates, rather than the Black and Latino populations who have been disproportionately targeted by the drug war in the past. As a result, more legislators are working on methods to incorporate equity into the legalization of marijuana.
