Celebration quickly gave way to uncertainty on Wednesday for supporters of a voter-approved initiative to legalize marijuana in the District, with the reality sinking in that when the measure reaches Capitol Hill for review, the party least likely to support it will be in charge.
One conservative House Republican from neighboring Maryland immediately vowed to use all of his power to upend Initiative 71, which would allow D.C. residents and visitors to have up to 2 ounces of marijuana for personal use and would allow home cultivation of up to three plants.
But advocates for the initiative took refuge in the Election Day comments of Sen. Rand Paul (R), who suggested outside a Kentucky polling precinct that he considers the matter one for D.C. voters, who ended up backing it by an overwhelming margin of more than 2 to 1: “I haven’t really taken a stand on [Initiative 71], but I’m against the federal government telling them they can’t,” Paul told reporters.
