Washington, D.C. council members Marion Barry and Tommy Wells introduced a bill Wednesday that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana within the District of Columbia.
If passed, the initiative would defy federal drug laws in the heart of the nation’s capital.
“We are going to really acknowledge that the War on Drugs, and in particular marijuana, has worked to criminalize many of our youth and has disadvantaged them from being able to get jobs,” Wells said in a press conference.
He was particularly concerned that young people hit with charges stemming from cannabis use would not be able to participate in the “economic boom” sweeping across the District.
Washington currently has one of the toughest marijuana laws in the nation. Possession of even small amounts is a misdemeanor offense, punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to six months in prison.
Under the new bill’s rules, possession of an ounce or less of the ganja would become a civil penalty netting a $100 fine, similar to a traffic ticket.
A poll released in May by Public Policy Polling found that three out of four Washington voters agreed with marijuana decriminalization. Despite this, D.C. police arrest pot smokers at higher rates than anywhere else in the nation. A recent report from the American Civil Liberties Union found that the District arrests 846 individuals per 100,000 residents each year, more than four times the national average.
If the council passes the bill, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray would then need to decide whether to sign it into law. After that, Washington’s unique legislative set-up means the law would have to undergo congressional scrutiny as well.
At a press conference, Wells stated his expectation that a majority of D.C. council members would co-sponsor the legislation.
Dan Riffle, deputy director of government relations at the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, shared this optimism. “I’d say the odds are good,” he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Washington Post reported last year that Mayor Gray was skeptical of pot decriminalization efforts, believing the District should first focus on implementing the city’s new medical marijuana program before clashing with federal authorities on another issue.
But Riffle says the mayor’s opinion has shifted over the last 12 months. “I talked to the mayor about this in June,” he said. “He will sign the bill.”
That just leaves Congress. In May, The Washington Post reported that D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson worried about congressional Republicans killing the bill. “I don’t think it’s the right time,” he said. “I don’t think decriminalization of marijuana will go over easily with Congress.”
There is growing momentum nationwide to reform America’s drug laws, however. Last November, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize casual cannabis use. And in April the Pew Research Center discovered that, for the first time in 40 years, 52 percent of Americans think the recreational use of marijuana should be legalized.
Riffle thinks the initiative will ultimately face little pushback from the feds. “Officials have better things to do with their time than chasing around marijuana users,” he said. “States, and DC, are well within their rights to apply different penalties to marijuana use than the federal government’s outdated and wasteful policies.”
The council will take up the bill again after the summer recess.
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