Editor's Note: While many expect D.C. voters to legalize possession and home cultivation of marijuana Tuesday, many also expect Congress to enact a Home Rule measure to prevent Initiative 71 from taking effect. Yesterday (Thursday), however, the D.C. council met to discuss potentially regulating the legalized marijuana market as Colorado and Washington state have done, and as Oregon and Alaska will do, if the ballot measures pass there Tuesday. With a "rough estimate" of the potential (D.C.) industry's worth set at $130 million, however, voters can hope that money talks and that the council will support D.C. resident's decision.
D.C. lawmakers, advocates and business owners spent Thursday debating the finer points of the regulation and taxation of marijuana in the District, moving past what appears to be the foregone conclusion that voters Tuesday will approve legalization of the drug.
The views on legalized pot have shifted dramatically over the last year among city lawmakers, many of whom were initially wary of such an approach and opted to support the less controversial course toward decriminalization.
“When I introduced the Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act in September of 2013, none of my colleagues were willing to be co-introducers or co-sponsors,” D.C. Council member David Grosso, at-large independent, said at Thursday’s hearing on the bill.
