Thursday, August 07, 2014

Shit's About to Get (Sorta) Real

From the blog of the Marijuana Policy Project:

The D.C. Board of Elections has officially certified Ballot Initiative 71 for November’s general election. If passed by a majority of D.C. voters, Initiative 71 will repeal all criminal and civil penalties for the personal possession and limited, private cultivation of marijuana. Passage of this initiative will be yet another step towards sensible marijuana policies in our nation’s capital, so make sure your voter registration is current if you are a D.C. resident so you can vote “yes” on November 4. - See more here.

The measure, if enacted, won't open the door to marijuana sales, but it will legalize possession of up two ounces and at-home cultivation of as many as six plants, as well as paraphernalia. Current law bars D.C. from adopting laws related to the sale of marijuana via ballot measure, though the D.C. Council is thought to be working on separate legislation that would allow for the regulation and taxation of pot in the District.

Political analysts believe that the measure is almost certain to pass (and by 'political analysts', I mean, 'I') in the significantly left-leaning Nation's Capital. However, if history is any guide, Congress may step in to override the will of the voters. In 1998, after DC residents passed a law legalizing medicinal marijuana, Republicans used the appropriations process to attach riders prohibiting the District government from enacting the law. Congress succeeded in blocking implementation for 10 years. D.C. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton has serious flow on this topic, "“We will not let history repeat itself. Republicans tried to prevent D.C. from voting on an initiative in 1998 to legalize medical marijuana, and after voters approved it, blocked its implementation with an appropriations rider for more than 10 years. We are not surprised that Republicans are threatening to again use the power of the federal government to block the will of the voters of a local jurisdiction. Many Republicans abandon their professed support of local control of local affairs when they have an opportunity to bully the residents of the District, who cannot hold them accountable at the ballot box. We have already begun working with our allies to protect the will of D.C. voters.”

The early returns on legalization in Colorado and Washington have generally demonstrated the banality of legal toking, and in at least a few statistical examples, the opposite results of those predicted by fearmongers like Rep. John Mica (R-Fla), who said, "We are going to have a lot more people stoned on the highway and there will be consequences."

Andrew Sullivan, a long-time advocate of legalization, said today, "One longstanding theory is that more pot use will mean less alcohol use. You can’t infer than from this data, but it sure looks encouraging. Can you imagine what prohibition will look like in retrospect if it emerges that legalizing weed saves lots of lives?"

Well, yeah. It'll look like a lot of other things that an increasingly irrelevant generation of mostly white men in power clung to in order to protect a status quo that maybe didn't need protecting. We'll still see raging at the dying of the light, without question, but I'd wager that we'll see legalization at the Federal level within 10 years.

Sooner, if Congress gets its hands on some legal D.C. weed.

15 comments:

zman said...

DC isn't a state, it's a federal jurisdiction, right? And using/growing/selling marijuana is illegal under federal law, right? So how can the DC Board legalize marijuana?

rob said...

man, i don't know. i just write stupid stuff on the internet.

rob said...

anyone have a hot sports take on the ncaa big 5 conference autonomy issue?

Clarence said...

Greetings from Sonoma. Second vineyard so far today. Did Benziger, now at the lovely Gloria Ferrer. Delicioso.

Rule of thumb is no tours, just tastings. Clarence is getting his wine on.

TR said...

Is Clarence turning Thomas Hayden Church in Sideways? I hope so, except for the part when he goes home with the waitress.

TR said...

And on the topic of weed, I am headed to Denver in two weeks, and I will have downtime. People in the know have recommended Euflora to me. Look it up on the googles. I hope to have a better experience than my last trip, when I overserved myself on edibles and had to sequester myself in my room, taking deep breaths and riding out a fierce few hours.

I made what I call the "Taco Bell" mistake, which is when you order and consume based on a random mental price that seems fair. I spent $10 at a Taco Bell once and ate everything in front of me. It was a night of diarrhea galore. Haven't been back since. I did the same thing with a giant Colorado granola bar (sans diarrhea).

rob said...

the english beat is playing at a cool venue in my little town next month. who's with me?

Shlara said...

Rob, I know a former union exec who has a POV on the big five situation...pretty cool that they have actual STUDENTS on the leadership committee

rob said...

15 of the 80 members of the committee are students, which is pretty cool.

rob said...

kd withdrew from the national team. totally understand his reasons, but that's a bummer.

Mr KQ said...

Huge Beat fan. Like the band as well. What's the date and venue?

rob said...

ken, the show's on 9/24 at the tally ho in downtown leesburg. it's a thursday night.

Mark said...

Florida's (possibly) best player and a freshman AA last year, Vernon Hargreaves tweaked his knee during practice tonight and now I feel like last season is repeating itself all over again. I might be being dramatic or I might be spot on.

I definitely need a hug. And a drink.

Clarence said...

Mark, I'm good for both. Hope to slug a few back soon. Any plans to come north?

Mark said...

Not anytime soon. Closest to north is Nashville in November. Not very northern. Am currently working on planning a New Orleans trip...I heard you like that place.