Why Congress Probably Won’t Block Marijuana Legalization in Washington, D.C.

Yesterday four members of Congress held a press
conference at which they argued that legislators should not
interfere with marijuana legalization in Washington, D.C. In my
latest Forbes column, I explain why such meddling is
unlikely. Here is how the piece starts:

At a press
conference yesterday, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District
of Columbia’s congressional delegate, urged her colleagues to
respect the will of the voters who overwhelmingly approved marijuana
legalization in the nation’s capital last week. She was joined by
three congressmen, including Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who said
trying to block legalization in D.C. or in Alaska and Oregon, where
voters also said no to marijuana prohibition last week, would flout
“fundamental principles” that “Republicans have always talked
about,” including “individual liberties,” “limited government,” and
“states’ rights and the 10th Amendment.”

Norton noted that “we’ve had a threat to try to overturn our
legalization initiative.” She was referring to Rep. Andy Harris
(R-Md.), who after the D.C. vote told The
Washington Post, “I will consider using all resources
available to a member of Congress to stop this action.” Although
there is no doubting Harris’s sincerity, those resources probably
will prove inadequate.

Read the whole thing.