By a hilarious margin, DC voted to allow its residents to possess marijuana for recreational use last night–but don’t light up just yet.
By a hilarious margin, DC voted to allow its residents to possess marijuana for recreational use last night–but don’t light up just yet.
In a 64-28 vote, Initiative 71 sailed through the ballot box last night. The law allows DC residents to have up to 2 oz. in their home, as well as no more than 6 flowering plants.
The law did not set a regulatory structure for private sale of weed.
Along with a shift away from the belief that legalization leads to more abuse, DC’s history with drug offenses targeting minorities is being called the cause behind this push.
But because DC is governed by Congress, the right-leaning national legislative body, there’s still that massive hurdle to cross. Yes, laws in DC must face Congressional review, even though the city has no members elected to congress (“taxation without representation,” anyone?) so when the good folks of our nation’s capital vote to legalize pot, they’re still bound by the noose of people from rural Florida (who failed to pass a medical pot vote yesterday despite receiving 57% of the vote – they needed 60%).
Advocates for legal weed in DC include DC’s lone Congressional Delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton–who sits in Congress, but is not allowed to vote on anything.
“The people have spoken,” wrote Congresswoman Norton in a press release sent out last night. “And D.C. residents can rest assured that when a mandate comes directly from the people, they haven’t seen a fight like the fight I’m preparing to make.”
Norton went on to say that DC’s legal weed came about through the democratic process, and, much like the law itself, has to do with racial disparity.
“We have not been able to conquer the racial disparity between Black and White marijuana convictions,” wrote Norton. “What we can do with legalization is to take away the instrument that causes this inequality.”
So is there a timeline for when we can take a 90 minute drive to DC and pick up some legal buds?
The Washington City Paper spoke with advocates and came up with this:
Once the bill goes into law, it would still not be legal to sell marijuana. The Council is currently crafting legislation that would regulate the legal sale of marijuana in D.C. (Initiative 71 only legalizes possession, not sales.) At-Large Councilmember David Grosso wrote the current draft of legislation-—the Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act of 2013-—and says the Council will be working on it over the next few months.
Eidinger says he expects it could take until fall of 2016 before legislation legalizing sales goes into effect. Mendelson could not predict how long it would take, but says he doesn’t expect it to take that long.
