Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jun 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: B1

FUNDS FOR NEW D.C. POT LAW DENIED

Lack of Drug-Treatment Element 'Bad Policy'

House Republicans on Wednesday blocked funding for a new D.C. law 
that would eliminate the threat of jail time for pot possession, 
leaving the fate of one of the country's most liberal 
decriminalization efforts unclear.

The D.C. law, which is to take effect next month, makes possession in 
the nation's capital punishable by a fine of just $25.

A spokesman for Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said the city would proceed 
with implementing the law even as its authority to mete out the 
smaller penalties beyond October remains up in the air.

Gray's office also warned that as the House Republican amendment was 
drafted, the city needs to determine if the action could force the 
city to shut down its entire medical marijuana program, which started 
last year. Marijuana advocates, meanwhile, were pushing a theory that 
the House Republicans' actions could leave the city with no 
enforceable marijuana law, effectively legalizing possession. The 
D.C. Attorney General's Office said it was reviewing that possibility 
and other potential fallout from the House's vote.

The interference from House Republicans, however, was broadly seen as 
another defeat for home rule in the District - and the ability of its 
Democratic mayor and left-leaning council to selfgovern. In March, 
the council voted overwhelmingly to eliminate jail time for 
possession, calling it necessary to combat deep racial disparities in 
drug arrests in the city. Studies have shown that use among teenagers 
varies little by race but that African Americans account for nine of 
10 possession arrests in the nation's capital, contributing to an 
estimated 10 percent of residents who have criminal records and 
trouble finding jobs.

The effort to keep the District from loosening its marijuana laws was 
led by Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland's only Republican in Congress.

In April, Maryland also joined the third of states that have passed 
similar laws eliminating jail time for pot possession. But Harris 
argued that the D.C. law was "bad policy" assessing a fine of just 
$25 - a fraction of the $100 fine in Maryland, which escalates 
rapidly with repeat violations.

Harris, a doctor who represents the Eastern Shore, also visibly 
swayed fellow Republicans by noting that the District's law has no 
drug-treatment component, even for minors, and that the fine for a 
young teen who is caught with a joint would be half that of the 
city's $50 ticket for underage smoking of a cigarette.

"No referral for help? Not even for a 14- or 15-year-old. That's just 
plain bad policy." Harris told members of the House Appropriations 
Committee. "This is the opportunity to stop that bad policy from 
moving forward."

Harris's amendment, or "rider" on a a multibillion-dollar spending 
bill, would preclude the District from spending any money "to enact 
or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise 
reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution 
of any" federal controlled substance.

It was one of several riders on D.C. spending House Republicans 
passed Wednesday, the others including a prohibition on D.C. spending 
its own money on abortions for poor residents and one cutting funds 
for D.C. police officers to drive their cruisers to and from their 
homes if they live outside the city.

The riders were derided by House Democrats from New York to 
California as infringing on the District's right to self-governance.

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) called Harris's amendment a misplaced 
effort by Republicans to appear tough on drugs.

Serrano, whose family is from Puerto Rico, also said that 
Republicans' interference amounted to D.C. "colonialism," with 
representatives from red states imposing their will on the city's 
Democratic majority.

"The D.C. voters elected people. They made the decision, and it seems 
to me that we ought to respect that," added Rep. James P. Moran 
(D-Va.). "It just doesn't seem right that the Eastern Shore of 
Maryland can reach over into D.C. and make laws for D.C. It's not the 
way this country is supposed to function."

One Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, sided with Republicans in 
the 28-to-21 vote and Harris seized on the defection, calling his 
amendment a bipartisan success.

In a brief interview, Harris said his bill was not intended to upend 
the District's medical marijuana program and was drafted carefully to 
not do so.

"This is not about medical marijuana. This is about decriminalization 
and the effect of that on the youth of this country. And in this 
case, the youth of D.C."

Harris's amendment and the other riders will be included in the 
budget that goes to the full House and then to negotiators, who will 
work out a compromise with an as-yet unfinished Senate spending plan, 
which is almost assured to include no similar restrictions on the District.

The House hearing was the last expected hurdle for the District's 
marijuana law, which is nearing the end of a 60-day congressional 
review period. Unless Congress passes a measure halting the law - and 
the president signs that - it will take effect next month.

Under the law, possession would draw a civil fine of $25 - akin to a 
parking ticket. That would be the smallest penalty outside any state 
except Alaska, which has no fine, and Colorado and Washington, which 
have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Smoking pot in public 
could draw a penalty of 60 days in jail, like an arrest for an open 
container of alcohol.

The District law has drawn praise from marijuana advocates and civil 
rights groups, and on Wednesday, their representatives lashed out at Harris.

"That Rep. Harris is picking on a majority black district and no 
other jurisdiction with marijuana decriminalization is very telling," 
Bill Piper, director of national affairs with the Drug Policy 
Alliance, said in a statement. "His own state has decriminalized 
marijuana, but he's not interfering with it."

Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, cast the move by 
Harris and House Republicans as out of step with voters.

A Washington Post poll this year found that D.C. voters, by about 2 
to 1, support legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

A band of marijuana advocates is working toward a deadline next month 
to gather enough signatures to put a measure before voters in 
November to legalize possession, including home cultivation of the plant.

Such a law would also end up back in Congress, where House 
Republicans, at least on Wednesday, were ready to rewrite it as they saw fit.

"The federal government has a unique relationship with the city of 
Washington, D.C.," said Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.). "We, the 
federal government, pay for the city's courts, we pay to house their 
prisoners, and I think we pay for a few other things . . . so the 
Constitution says we have the power to exercise - in all cases - over 
this District. And that is what we do."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom