Congress approves DC ban on selling weed and protects state medical programs

By Nina Zdinjak

The new bicameral omnibus spending law, unveiled by congressional leaders in Washington DC on Wednesday, would uphold a ban on the legal sale of recreational cannabis. On the other hand, another provision that protects state-legal medical marijuana programs from federal interference was left unchanged in the proposed measures, Marijuana Moment reported.

And so it looks like the long-standing problem for cannabis companies in Washington DC will remain, despite recent efforts to change it.

Photo by lucky-photographer/Getty Images

RELATED: Physicians are no longer needed for seniors to get medical marijuana in DC

On March 4, the Drug Policy Alliance and more than 50 criminal justice, economic, labor and drug policy reform organizations sent a letter to key appropriators in the House and Senate, as well as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, calling for the repeal of the appropriation tab this has prevented the District of Columbia from spending its own money to legalize and regulate the sale of adult-use marijuana.

Although adult-use cannabis was legalized in Washington DC in 2014, an amendment that has remained in effect through several Presidential budget proposals has prevented the district from fully operating its legal cannabis program.

As such, adults over the age of 21 are allowed to grow and possess cannabis, yet commercial sales remain stalled under the tab also included in President Biden’s most recent budget for 2022. Last year, the tab was intentionally left out of a state-approved spending bill in the House of Representatives and circulated as a draft in the Senate.

Now, the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is urging members of Congress to “retain the abolition of the Congressional Budget, aka the ‘Harris’ Proposition,” which still prohibits the District of Columbia from establishing a regulatory framework for the create sales and taxation of marijuana.

The newly introduced bill proved a disappointment to supporters who had expected congressional leaders in the Democrat-controlled Congress to remove the tab. In addition, an extension of current state medicinal cannabis protection language to all state cannabis programs was also denied through the intervention of the Department of Justice.

Photo by Brandon Mowinkel via Unsplash

What’s next?

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the omnibus legislation on Wednesday. If passed, the law would go before the Senate. The move comes days ahead of a government spending deadline that has been pushed back multiple times. The bill will therefore need Biden’s signature before the deadline to avoid being plunged into the crisis of a possible government shutdown.

If and when that happens, DC officials will be denied the opportunity to pass a measure legalizing the sale of recreational cannabis until at least late September, after which Congress can decide whether or not to remove the driver.

RELATED: DC approves law preventing pre-employment marijuana testing

However, since DC doesn’t seem able to fully create a proper cannabis program, it’s overcoming the obstacles one step at a time. Take, for example, the district’s recent pre-employment marijuana testing law, passed unanimously by the Labor & Workforce Development Committee, which prohibits most workplaces from drug testing job applicants.

The proposal, sponsored by councilor Trayon White (D), builds on previous legislation passed by the DC Council to help local government officials who face discrimination because of their use of medical marijuana in the workplace.