Marijuana Legalized in D.C. Despite Congressional Actions

Marijuana is now legal in Washington, D.C.
Image:  Shutterstock

Tomorrow morning, Washington, D.C. residents over 21 will be legally allowed to have 2 ounces of recreational marijuana in their possession. That's twice as much as is legal in the four other states that have legalized pot so far--Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington.

In other ways, though, the legalization terms are fairly similar:

• Consumption on public or federal land or property is banned.
• Home-growing restrict D.C. residents to the products of six plants at home, three of them mature.
• Only one ounce can be given as a gift.

Voter approval in D.C. was higher than in other locations--64.9%, as opposed to 56.1% (Oregon), 55.7% (Washington), 55.3% (Colorado), and 53.2% (Alaska

What really sets the D.C. legalization apart from previous instances, however, is that there are very few regulations beyond these basic laws. This is because, while legalization was approved by vote in November, Congress denied D.C. the funds to regulate the industry in December.

According to The Washington Post:

"Instead of writing regulations governing how the drug would be bought, sold, tracked and taxed — a process that took more than a year in Colorado and Washington state — the District was quickly blocked from doing so by Congress. The city’s attorney general advised officials that even talking about how to allow pot sales could result in jail time for them."

D.C. officials argue that all Congress has done is to keep D.C. from regulating legalization beyond what was voted for in November.

Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said that Congressional Republicans weren’t trying to undercut their support for states’ rights by blocking Washington’s pot legalization: "Looking at the Constitution, Washington, D.C. is different. They are not a state, and we have a role to play and the Congress passed this."

However, Mayor Muriel Bowser said the efforts of Congress went into effect after the legalization was passed, and she intends to support the process in Washington, D.C. despite the protests of Chaffetz and others.