Can Andy Harris Go Back in Time and Stop D.C. From Decriminalizing Marijuana Possession?

The District of Columbia’s marijuana
decriminalization ordinance, which makes possession of up to an
ounce a citable offense punishable by a $25 fine,
takes effect this Thursday. The D.C. Council approved the law
in March, and Congress had 60 legislative days to override the
change through a joint resolution. Since it declined to do so,
that’s that. Or is it?

On June 25 the House Judiciary Committee
approved an amendment introduced by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.)
that would prohibit D.C. from spending public money “to enact
or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise
reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or
distribution” of marijuana or any other controlled
substance. Even if Harris’ amendment is approved
by the full House and becomes part of an appropriations bill that
the Senate passes and the president signs, it’s not clear that it
would accomplish what Harris wants. The amendment would not take
effect until after the penalty for possession is reduced, at which
point it will be more expensive to start arresting pot smokers
again than it would be to continue with the new policy. In what
sense does not arresting and prosecuting
people for marijuana possession result in an additional expenditure
of public funds?

Pot busts are a touchy issue in D.C.  because 91 percent of
them involve blacks, who represent half of the city’s population
and, according to survey data, are no more likely than whites to
smoke pot. Furthermore, Harris’ own state of Maryland, which
adjoins D.C., decriminalized
marijuana possession this year, making possession of up to 10 grams
a civil offense punishable by a $100 fine rather than a misdemeanor
punishable by a $500 fine and up to 90 days in jail. So what is
Harris’ problem? He argues that a $25 fine is so low that it will
encourage teenagers to smoke pot. “Society has some responsibility
for protecting minors,” he recently
told The New York Times. “I think the D.C. law
protects them in no way, shape or form.” According to Harris, then,
cops in D.C. should continue arresting adults for smoking pot—to
protect the children.

Mayor Vincent Gray, who has urged D.C. residents to protest
Harris’ position by boycotting beaches in his Eastern Maryland
district, argues that attempting to override the decriminalization
measure is undemocratic, even if Congress has the power to do so
under the Constitution. “He is interfering with democracy in this
city, and we want people to understand how we feel about it,” Gray
told the Times. “Shouldn’t the people of the District of
Columbia in a democracy be permitted to make decisions? We have
more people in the District of Columbia than in the whole state of
Wyoming or in Vermont. I can’t imagine Representative Harris feels
he ought to interfere in the business of those two states.”

I can, depending on the policies those states adopt. Harris

thinks the feds should prevent states from implementing medical
marijuana laws, for example.