Pubdate: Wed, 12 Mar 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Aaron C. Davis
Page: B4

MEASURE TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA ALLOWED TO MOVE FORWARD

Voters in the nation's capital could decide if they want to follow
Colorado and Washington state in legalizing marijuana under a measure
cleared by the D.C. Board of Elections on Tuesday.

The decision sets aside warnings by the city's attorney general, who
said that if the proposal passed, it would put D.C. law at odds with
federal law. The board's decision allows a band of activists to begin
gathering the 25,000 signatures needed to qualify the measure for the
November ballot.

If the signatures were collected and the ballot measure passed, it
could allow people 21 and older to possess as much as two ounces of
marijuana for personal use and to grow up to three marijuana plants at
home. The vote could also thrust the issue before Congress, which can
block a city law by approving a joint resolution that is signed by the
president. But Congress has done so only three times in 35 years.

Adam Eidinger, a leading activist for the initiative, has said he is
confident his group can collect the signatures needed. He said Tuesday
he was excited by the board's decision.

Eidinger had hoped to station signature-gatherers outside polling
places when the city's primary election is held April 1. But the
Elections Board has 20 days to settle on the language for the measure,
so it is uncertain whether the petition effort can start that soon.

If the measure does qualify for the fall ballot, it has a strong
chance to pass, according to a recent Washington Post poll.

Support for legalization has expanded dramatically in the District.
Residents who were split evenly on the issue four years ago are now in
favor of allowing the drug for personal use by a ratio of almost 2 to
1. Washingtonians of every age, race and ethnicity - teenagers and
seniors, blacks and whites - registered double-digit increases in
support. Overall, 63 percent are in favor.

The Elections Board decision is the second major step in two weeks
toward loosening the city's marijuana laws.

Citing the goals of social justice and reducing racial disparity in
marijuana arrests, the D.C. Council voted last week to decriminalize
pot by imposing civil fines rather than jail time for most offenses.

Under that measure, possessing marijuana and smoking it in one's home
would no longer be criminal offenses, but would be punishable by a
civil fine of $25. Smoking in public would be a misdemeanor equal to
toting an open container of alcohol.

D.C. Attorney General Irvin B. Nathan last month urged the Elections
Board not to go any further and to reject the proposed ballot initiative.

He warned that legalization would put at least one aspect of D.C. law
into conflict with U.S. drug laws.

But the Elections Board said in a statement Tuesday: "A ballot
initiative is considered a proper subject if it does not appropriate
funds, violate the Home Rule Charter, negate a Budget Act, or violate
the Human Rights Act. In approving or rejecting a ballot initiative,
the Board may only consider whether the measure meets these requirements."

Nathan warned that under federal law, the city would still have to
evict residents of public housing who are convicted of marijuana
possession, even if D.C. law no longer considered possession a crime.

That's a tension, however, that the city is already grappling with
under the decriminalization measure, which Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D)
said he intends to sign.

Eidinger appeared to have won over Elections Board members by arguing
at a hearing last month that as written, the ballot measure would
allow landlords the right to set terms of lease agreements, including
prohibitions against possessing marijuana.

Many questions remain about how the measure would work in practice.
The ballot measure would legalize possession of marijuana, for
example, but not its sale, which would remain a crime.

Eidinger said the measure was crafted to minimize differences between
D.C. and federal law to encourage the board to approve it for the ballot.

He said that if it passed, he would encourage the D.C. Council to
rewrite it and make it more practical to implement, including
legalizing the sale and taxation of the drug.

Even some advocates, however, question whether the timing is right to
push for full legalization in the District.

They say legalizing the drug on the streets surrounding Congress and
the very agencies charged with enforcing federal anti-drug laws would
be too blatant a conflict and raise the likelihood that Congress would
interfere.

As it is, once signed by the mayor, the D.C. Council bill to
decriminalize marijuana must sit before a congressional panel for 60
days before becoming law. There is little evidence that Congress would
organize to block the measure.

It also remains unclear how overlapping local and federal
jurisdictions would affect enforcement of decriminalization,
particularly in national parks. Someone could still be arrested, for
instance, for possession on the Mall.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt