Pubdate: Thu, 11 Dec 2014
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37
Author: John Fritze

HARRIS TAKES ON ANTI-POT MANTLE

Spending Bill Contains Provision That Would Block D.C.'S Legalization Effort

WASHINGTON - Rep. Andy Harris re-emerged Wednesday as a leading 
opponent of legalizing marijuana after lawmakers included a provision 
in the $1 trillion federal funding bill that appeared to block the 
District of Columbia from loosening its pot laws.

The controversial addition, which took D.C. officials and 
legalization advocates by surprise, also served to solidify the 
conservative Republican's position as a top target of those 
Washingtonians who believe Congress is meddling in the affairs of the 
nation's capital - and ignoring the will of its voters.

Harris, Maryland's only Republican in Congress, has long opposed 
efforts to legalize pot, even as proponents have gained ground in 
state after state.

The Johns Hopkins-trained anesthesiologist said Wednesday that he 
believes the anti-legalization measure, tucked into the 1,600-page 
government funding bill, should have been even stronger.

"This is the language that we got bipartisan, bicameral agreement to," he said.

Several Democrats criticized the provision - and one suggested the 
district could circumvent it. But the policy rider has received less 
flak on Capitol Hill than some others, including changes to campaign 
finance rules and Wall Street regulations.

Negotiators from both parties agreed to all of the provisions before 
the bill was made public Tuesday.

The marijuana rider drew particular attention from some Democrats, 
who said the district, like the states, should be permitted to set 
its own rules on pot. Four states have legalized the recreational use 
of marijuana.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district's representative in Congress, 
said D.C. officials pushed to change the city's drug laws after 
studies showed blacks were convicted of marijuana possession at a far 
higher rate than whites. Those convictions, she said, then make it 
harder for people to find jobs.

"I'm not for smoking marijuana," she said. "I'm not for smoking 
anything ... [but] the city felt it had to go ahead and take away this stigma."

District officials approved decriminalization in March, changing 
possession of up to an ounce of pot from a misdemeanor to a civil 
violation, with a penalty of $25. District voters approved a ballot 
measure last month to fully legalize possession of up to two ounces 
of marijuana.

The provision included in the spending bill focuses on legalization. 
It would prohibit the district from spending any money - including 
its own revenue - to enact that initiative.

Harris, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, tried this 
summer to block decriminalization with an amendment to another 
spending bill. That effort failed.

He said Wednesday that he would have supported such a move again in 
the current spending bill but suggested there was not support for it.

Norton suggested Wednesday that legalization was "enacted" at the 
time voters approved the ballot measure and therefore the language in 
the spending bill might be moot. Republicans disagreed with that assessment.

An aide to D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray said city attorneys are 
analyzing the provision.

Regardless of the outcome, the two paragraphs on marijuana included 
in the much larger spending bill reopened the long-standing debate 
over the role Congress has overseeing the District and its residents.

Harris says the Constitution treats the District differently from the 
states and that federal lawmakers have a legitimate oversight role. 
He said that opponents have all but ignored studies noting potential 
health affects of marijuana use.

Harris cites studies such as a report last month from the University 
of Texas at Dallas that linked long-term marijuana use with certain 
brain abnormalities.

"I want to take this out of the realm of home rule for D.C. and make 
this an argument about making sure everybody understands the 
science," he said. "I'm disappointed that the opponents don't want to 
argue it on that level."

Though he has become the face of the anti-pot effort in Congress, 
it's unclear how much of a role Harris had in pushing the language 
into the current spending bill. He said Wednesday that he consulted 
with GOP leaders about the issue frequently as they crafted the 
measure but also said that "this was all dealt with at a much higher level."

Harris has nevertheless become a focus of those on the other side. On 
Tuesday, Harris was interrupted repeatedly by protesters as he 
attempted to give a speech on the issue in Washington.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom