As D.C. Marijuana Decriminalization Takes Effect, Norton Fighting Appropriations Rider to Undo Law Anyway
Washington, DC – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that the congressional review period for the District of Columbia's marijuana decriminalization bill will end today, Wednesday, July 16, 2014, and that the bill will take effect on Thursday.
"Today is a day both to celebrate our success in preventing Congress from passing a resolution of disapproval during the congressional review period and to redouble our efforts to defend D.C.'s right to pass its own local marijuana laws," Norton said. "With a rider introduced by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and passed by the Appropriations Committee, we have been working with our allies in the Senate, House and outside of Congress to ensure that the rider, which prohibits D.C. from decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana, is not enacted into law, and that Republicans do not try to insert the rider into any other must-pass bill.
"As we could have predicted, Republicans have used their usual route to try to overturn a D.C. law. It was too much to hope that Republicans would allow D.C. to do what its states have done to decriminalize marijuana. But it should not have been too much to hope that Republicans, who claim to support limiting the power of the federal government, would be consistent in keeping the big foot of the federal government out of D.C.'s local affairs."
The District's marijuana decriminalization bill has been under attack since it was transmitted to Congress for review. However, the Obama Administration on Monday called on the House to reject the D.C. marijuana rider in the Fiscal Year 2015 District of Columbia Appropriations bill. The Statement of Administration Policy said the administration "strongly opposes" the bill's prohibition on the District's spending of its own local funds to implement its local marijuana policies because it violates the "principle of States' rights and of District home rule."
In May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Government Operations, chaired by Representative John Mica (R-FL), singled out the District's marijuana bill for a hearing. Later that day, Representative John Fleming (R-LA) indicated to Roll Call that he would introduce a resolution of disapproval to block the law from taking effect. Today, the House is debating the fiscal year 2015 D.C. Appropriations bill, which contains a rider that would prohibit D.C. from using its local funds to decriminalize or legalize marijuana. The D.C. marijuana rider was offered as an amendment in the Appropriations Committee by Representative Andy Harris (R-MD), a tea party supporter. Harris sponsored the amendment despite the fact that his own state of Maryland has decriminalized marijuana.
The city's local officials passed the marijuana decriminalization legislation largely to combat racial injustice. A 2013 study by the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital found that, in the District of Columbia, where about half the residents are Black, Blacks are eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than non-Blacks, and in 2010 91% of all marijuana arrests in D.C. were of Blacks. Twenty-three states have legalized medical marijuana, 18 states have decriminalized marijuana, and two states have legalized marijuana. A February 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 54% of Americans support marijuana legalization.
Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, all D.C. civil and criminal bills must be transmitted to Congress for a 30- and 60-day review period, respectively, before they can take effect. A bill takes effect at the expiration of the review period unless a resolution of disapproval is enacted into law during that period. Norton has prevented a disapproval resolution from being enacted into law since 1991. As expected, Republicans are using a rider rather than the disapproval process set forth in the Home Rule Act to try to block D.C.'s marijuana decriminalization bill. For more than 10 years, Republicans used a rider to block the District from legalizing medical marijuana. Norton was able to remove that rider in 2009.