\u201cIt is imperative to both public health, public safety, and for Congress\u2019 support of the District\u2019s right to home rule that the removal of the Harris rider is maintained,\u201d the letter says, referring to the anti-legalization sponsor of the rider Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD).<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the ability to regulate marijuana sales, the grey market for marijuana flourishes despite the need and want of the District leadership and residents alike to establish a regulatory model,\u201d the groups wrote. \u201cSuch a model would free up law enforcement resources to focus on threats to public safety. It would also allow legitimate entrepreneurs to start businesses, create jobs and spur economic development in the District.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is of utmost importance that the District of Columbia be granted the same capacity as states around the nation that have voted to regulate adult use of marijuana and deliver on the promises of Initiative 71,\u201d the letter continues.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Signatories of the letter include groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, AFL-CIO\u2019s Washington Metropolitan Council, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Association of Social Workers, Competitive Enterprise Institute, NORML, BOWL PAC, Dr. Bronner\u2019s, DC Vote, DC Marijuana Justice, R Street Institute and Weedmaps.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is time for Congress to support the District of Columbia\u2019s right to self-determination and lift the rider prohibiting them from regulating marijuana,\u201d the letter concludes.<\/p>\n Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) thanked the groups for advocating for the right of D.C. to enact cannabis commerce. She said in November that she is \u201ccloser than ever\u201d to removing the blockade<\/a> on cannabis commerce in her district.<\/p>\n Thank you to the 50+ national and DC groups, led by @DrugPolicyOrg<\/a>, that sent a letter today calling on Congress to remove the rider that prohibits DC from using its local funds to commercialize recreational marijuana. #HandsOffDC<\/a><\/p>\n Full letter: https:\/\/t.co\/09UzgGgrDH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Eleanor #DCStatehood Holmes Norton (@EleanorNorton) March 4, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n While there appears to be shared interest among House and Senate Democrats in ending the D.C. ban as part of the fiscal year 2022 appropriations session, achieving that goal may be logistically complicated.<\/p>\n The leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee have reportedly reached an agreement on framework spending legislation after repeatedly extending government funding past last October\u2019s original deadline through a series of short-term continuing resolutions. The latest deadline is March 11.<\/p>\n All four committee leaders handling appropriations reportedly<\/a> agreed to continue negotiations about adding or removing existing riders in the future, raising doubts about the prospects of eliminating the D.C. language this round due to opposition from top Republicans.<\/p>\n Unhelpfully, from advocates\u2019 perspective, President Joe Biden\u2019s own budget proposal sought to continue the GOP-led ban<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn one hand, Congress continues to make strides in advancing federal marijuana reform grounded in racial justice, while simultaneously being responsible for prohibiting the very jurisdiction that led the country in legalizing marijuana through this lens from being able to regulate it,\u201d Queen Adesuyi, senior national policy manager for DPA, said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cThis conflict and contradiction must end now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLeadership passing on this historic chance to be on the right side of history\u2014in standing for both marijuana reform and democracy\u2014would be demoralizing, and a clear sign that there is a stronger commitment to use D.C. as a bargaining chip than on the values of marijuana justice and home rule,\u201d she said. \u201cWe look forward to working with them to finally bring this injustice to a close and ensure D.C. residents\u2019 voice and vote are respected.\u201d<\/p>\n Several of the groups behind this new D.C. letter separately urged House leadership to put a bill to federally legalize marijuana\u2014the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act\u2014on the floor this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, back in D.C., lawmakers continue to gear up to enact legislation that would allow for marijuana sales, while also advancing other cannabis-related measures.<\/p>\n Lawmakers held a joint hearing in November on a pair of bills to authorize the legal sale of recreational marijuana<\/a> and significantly expand the existing medical cannabis program in the nation\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n A provision of the bill that could have led to a broad crackdown on the city\u2019s unregulated market for recreational cannabis was removed, much to the relief of advocates who criticized the proposed measure over a component that would have punished businesses that \u201cgift\u201d marijuana in a manner that effectively circumvents the local prohibition on retail cannabis sales.<\/p>\n Marijuana possession and gifting is legal under a voter-approved 2014 initiative\u2014but there currently isn\u2019t a regulated market and people aren\u2019t allowed to accept any form of renumeration for gifting.<\/p>\n D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said last April that local officials are prepared to move forward<\/a> with implementing a legal system of recreational marijuana sales<\/a> in the nation\u2019s capital just as soon as they can get over the final \u201churdle\u201d of congressional interference.<\/p>\n Bowser introduced a cannabis commerce bill last February, though her measure was not on the agenda for November\u2019s hearing alongside the cannabis legalization proposal put forward by Mendelson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Local marijuana activists also proposed an amendment to Mendelson\u2019s legalization bill that would allow small entrepreneurs to sell cannabis at farmers markets<\/a>. It\u2019s not clear when D.C. lawmakers will convene again to vote on proposed changes and the overall legislation.<\/p>\n Last March, a federal oversight agency determined that the congressional rider blocking marijuana sales in D.C. does not preclude local officials from taking procedural steps to prepare<\/a> for the eventual reform, such as holding hearings, even if they cannot yet enact it with the blockade pending.<\/p>\n Last week, a D.C. Council committee unanimously approved a bill to ban most workplaces from subjecting job applicants to pre-employment marijuana testing<\/a>. It would expand on previous legislation the D.C. Council approved to protect local government employees against workplace discrimination due to their use of medical cannabis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bowser also recently signed a bill into law that will expand access to the District\u2019s medical marijuana program in a series of ways.<\/p>\n Now, senior citizens will be able to self-certify their own eligibility for cannabis without having to get a recommendation from a doctor. The law also further extends the registration renewal deadline for patients and creates a week-long medical marijuana tax relief \u201choliday\u201d that coincides with the unofficial cannabis event known as 4\/20.<\/p>\n That bill also generally expand on prior emergency legislation that the Council approved<\/a> at the height of the coronavirus pandemic to extend registration eligibility for the medical cannabis program. Patients under 65 with registrations will continue to be validated through at least September 30.<\/p>\n In 2019, another D.C. lawmaker proposed a separate medical cannabis reform bill<\/a> meant to ease the registration process for patients. Instead of having to wait several weeks for regulators to process their medical cannabis approvals, patients would simply fill out an application with the city health department and would then automatically qualify to legally purchase marijuana on a provisional basis.<\/p>\n The legislation\u2019s author, at-large Councilmember David Grosso (I), introduced a similar bill in 2017, though that version allowed residents to self-certify as medical marijuana patients<\/a>\u2014without the need to involve a doctor\u2014by signing an affidavit, and it didn\u2019t have the stipulation that their qualifications could be later rejected.<\/p>\n Separately, another group of activists announced an effort to pressure local lawmakers enact<\/a> broad drug decriminalization, with a focus on promoting harm reduction programs, in the nation\u2019s capital. A poll released last year found that voters are strongly in favor of proposals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the letter from activists\u2019 on the D.C. marijuana commerce ban rider below: <\/strong><\/p>\n Illinois House Approves Workplace Protections For Cannabis Consumers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>![](\"https:\/\/thcinct.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/veterans-groups-call-on-congress-to-allow-medical-marijuana-access-through-va-marijuana-moment.jpg\")
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