DC Council Chairman tears up Congress over upholding ban on weed sales

A top Washington, DC lawmaker is unhappy with Capitol Hill after top members of Congress last week decided to lift a ban on recreational cannabis sales in the nation’s capital.

Phil Mendelson, DC City Council Chairman, put it simply that “Congress needs to step out of this.”

“It continues the current lawless situation in the city,” Mendselon said, as quoted by local news outlet WTOP.

But therein lies the catch. While voters in the District of Columbia legalized adult use of marijuana in 2014, selling cannabis remains illegal. That’s because Congress oversees the laws in DC. And every spending bill passed by Congress since that legalization initiative includes what is known as the “Harris Rider.”

Named for Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland, the budget tab barred the district from commercializing marijuana.

After initial signals from congressional Democrats that they were ready to remove the Harris Rider, it was still included in the $1.5 trillion spending bill passed last Thursday. The law was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Mendelson said the ban merely encouraged illegal activity in the district, noting in particular the “pop-up” shops that sell weed anyway.

“These pop-ups are illegal,” Mendelson told WTOP.

“It’s an invitation to criminal activity like robbery,” he added. “It fuels criminal activity and that’s the public safety issue that Congress has given us.”

Cannabis reform advocates hoped that the Harris Rider would finally be scrapped as Democrats would control both houses of Congress.

When Senate Democrats introduced a budget that didn’t include the driver that fall, Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser welcomed the exclusion. As Bowser alluded to at the time, the ban on commercial weed sales captures the frustration that stems from DC’s lack of statehood.

“The Senate Budget Act is a critical step in recognizing that DC residents should be governed by DC values ​​in a democracy,” Bowser’s office said in October. “As we continue the journey towards DC statehood, I would like to thank Senator Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, our good friend and Subcommittee Chairman Senator Chris Van Hollen, and of course our champion on the Hill, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes, thank Norton, for recognizing and promoting the will of DC voters. We call on Congress to pass a final spending bill that will similarly remove all anti-Home Rule tabs, allowing DC to spend our local funds as it sees fit.

Earlier this month, a group of more than 50 cannabis reform and civil rights groups, including the Drug Policy Alliance, sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for an end to the Harris Rider.

“On the one hand, Congress continues to make strides in advancing federal marijuana reform based on racial justice, while remaining responsible for ensuring that the very jurisdiction that has guided the country through that lens in legalizing marijuana prevented from regulating it. This conflict and contradiction must end now,” said Queen Adesuyi, senior national policy manager of the Drug Policy Alliance.

“Leaders if they were to share this historic opportunity to be on the right side of history – by standing for both marijuana reform and democracy – would be demoralizing and a clear sign that there is a stronger obligation to DC than.” bargaining chips than on the values ​​of marijuana justice and home rule. We look forward to working with them to finally put an end to this injustice and ensure the voice and voice of DC residents is respected,” added Adesuyi.