Congress Plans to Allow Legal Marijuana in D.C. but Not Legal Marijuana Businesses

Under an agreement between Senate Democrats and
House Republicans, National Journal reports,
omnibus spending legislation that Congress needs to pass this week
will include a rider that prevents Washington, D.C., from taxing
and regulating marijuana. But the bill will not
override Initiative 71, the marijuana legalization measure that
D.C. voters
approved by a 2-to-1 margin last month.

Initiative 71
makes it legal for adults 21 or older to possess two ounces or less
of marijuana in public, share up to an ounce at a time with each
other, and grow up to six plants at home, where they will be
allowed to keep whatever those plants produce. Because of legal
limits on the changes that can be made through ballot measures, the
initiative does not address commercial production and distribution,
but the D.C. Council is
considering legislation that would. The congressional rider,
demanded by hardline prohibitionists such as Rep. Andy Harris
(R-Md.) and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers
(R-Ky.), would bar the District from spending money to license and
regulate marijuana businesses.