House of Representatives Passes Legislation to Stop Legalization in D.C.

Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a republican backed “cromnibus” spending bill just hours before the deadline, which will stop the legalization of cannabis voted for by the people of Washington D.C.

It looks like U.S. politics as usual; the people decide they want something and the wealthy special interest groups get their politicians to counteract the vote. 70 percent of D.C. voters approved the legalization of cannabis, but politicians are still trying to override the will of the people – classic U.S. “democracy.” All may not be lost for D.C. weedists however, Drew Hammill, spokesman for democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, told the Huffington Post that Pelosi thinks cannabis may still have a chance in D.C. thanks to a loophole in the bill.

Pelosi’s optimism for a loophole comes from a discrepancy of language between two legislations passed by the House. The omnibus bill states that no funds “may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties” associated with recreational drugs that are prohibited under federal law.

The other piece of legislation is a rider introduced by republican House Representative Andy Harris. Where the language of the omnibus uses the word “enact,” the Harris rider says “carry out.” The debate in the House is whether Initiative 71, which allows for the possession and use of small amounts of recreational cannabis in Washington D.C., was enacted when the initiative was passed in last months midterm elections, or whether the term “enacting” refers to District Council transmitting the initiative to be reviewed by Congress, which has yet to occur.

“Based on a plain reading of the bill and principles of statutory interpretation, it is arguable that the rider does not block D.C. from carrying out its marijuana legalization initiative,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s nonvoting representative in the House and leading voice in the pro-cannabis interpretation of the bill. Democratic House after Rep. Jose Serrano supports this interpretation stating, “Since it can be argued that D.C.’s Initiative 71 is self-executing and that it was enacted when an overwhelming majority of voters supported it in the November elections, this means that Section 809 [of the omnibus] should not apply to the ballot initiative. Based on this premise, the government of the District of Columbia should be able to move forward with the legalization of marijuana despite the rider included in the omnibus bill.”

Despite the opinions of democratic representatives, Harris remains firm, indicating that the anti-legalization intention of the omnibus bill is clear. If D.C. does go forward with legalization, Dr. Malik Burnett, policy manager at the Drug Policy Alliance and vice chairman of the D.C. Cannabis Campaign says it’s possible that Congress could sue the District to block implementation of the new law, under anti-cannabis interpretation of the bill, although he is skeptical of this happening.

Burnett speculated to the Huffington post, “Who will litigate this case on behalf of Congress? I don’t know if they will find allies at the Justice Department for this effort.They also could try to pass a resolution of disapproval, but that seems politically difficult, especially in light of statements by the White House yesterday. The President would ultimately need to sign the resolution, if it were even able to pass both the House and the Senate.”