Pubdate: Thu, 07 Aug 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: Mike Debonis
Page: B4

CITY VOTERS TO DECIDE ON MARIJUANA USE IN NOVEMBER

D.C. residents will vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana
use in the nation's capital after elections officials decided
Wednesday to place the question on the ballot.

The three-member D.C. Board of Elections voted unanimously Wednesday
morning to approve the ballot initiative, certifying that activists
gathered the tens of thousands of voter signatures necessary to
qualify for the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

Several of those activists attended Wednesday's meeting and cheered
the vote, which moves the District closer to joining Colorado and
Washington as the only places in the nation where marijuana possession
and cultivation are fully legal.

"In a democracy, the voice of the people should be heard," said Malik
Burnett, a doctor and leader of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign, an
activist group that said it collected more than 57,000 signatures to
qualify for the ballot.

Board spokeswoman Tamara Robinson said the staff validated 27,688 of
those signatures. To qualify for the November ballot, 22,600
signatures were required.

A Washington Post poll taken this year showed 63 percent support for
marijuana legalization among District residents. But the legalization
effort could be complicated by efforts in Congress to forestall the
city's efforts to liberalize its marijuana laws.

A House budget bill passed last month included a provision to block
not only a legalization effort but also a decriminalization bill
passed by the D.C. Council this year that is in effect.

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

Harris, a doctor who represents the Eastern Shore, argued that the
D.C. decriminalization law, which reduces the penalty for simple
possession to a $25 civil fine, was "bad policy." He also noted that
the 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 cigarette smoking.

Congress has blocked previous efforts to change the city's marijuana
laws. In 1998, D.C. activists gathered signatures to place a measure
legalizing medical marijuana on the ballot. Congress moved to stop
city officials from counting the votes; a court challenge allowed the
votes to be counted, showing 69 percent support for the law, but
Congress continued to block funding to implement the program until
2009.

Burnett said he was not sure how Congress would ultimately react to
the new legalization effort, but he said the vote "will send a message
that D.C. is serious about reforming its marijuana laws."

The ballot initiative, if enacted, would legalize the possession of up
to two ounces of marijuana for personal use. Residents could grow up
to six cannabis plants at home and give up to an ounce of marijuana to
another adult without penalty. The initiative would also legalize the
sale and use of drug paraphernalia.

Burnett noted that the initiative would not legalize the sale of
marijuana, but he said he expected the D.C. Council to step in and
pass legislation to regulate sales if voters approve the ballot measure.

With marijuana legalization appearing alongside ballot lines for
mayor, attorney general and D.C. Council seats, the issue could figure
into this fall's political campaigns.

Candidates for mayor have staked out various positions on the
legalization proposal. Independent candidate Carol Schwartz, a former
D.C. Council member, said Wednesday that she supports medical
marijuana but opposes the legalization push, saying there are "too
many people that are drugged out" in the city.

Muriel Bowser, the Democratic nominee and Ward 4 council member, said
in a statement Wednesday that she will vote for legalization but wants
to "ensure the appropriate education is in place so our young people
know the effects of marijuana." Independent candidate and council
member David A. Catania (At Large), who played a leading role in
establishing the medical marijuana program, will also vote for
legalization, said campaign manager Ben Young.

The legalization push has so far moved forward without much
opposition. But Adam Eidinger, another leader of the D.C. Cannabis
Campaign, said he is preparing for anti-legalization forces to emerge.

"This is the Waterloo in the war of marijuana," he said of the D.C.
vote. "If they [those opposing legalization efforts] can't win this
battle here, it's over for the whole country."

Despite the high stakes, Eidinger said he was not especially concerned
about congressional intervention. "Overturning an election is a
serious matter in the 21st century," he said. "It is a moral issue. .
. . I really don't think Congress wants to pick this fight."

Victoria St. Martin and Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.
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