Editor's Note: Many began celebrating in D.C. the moment the final votes were counted legalizing possession and home cultivation of marijuana. But the real celebration has to wait until Initiative 71 is submitted to Congress for review. Depending on who you talk to, Congress' likely reaction varies. Here's a great look (and a positive one) at the situation by Forbes contributor Jacob Sullum:
At a press conference yesterday, Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s congressional delegate, urged her colleagues to respect the will of the voters who overwhelmingly approved marijuana legalization in the nation’s capital last week. She was joined by three congressmen, including Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), who said trying to block legalization in D.C. or in Alaska and Oregon, where voters also said no to marijuana prohibition last week, would flout “fundamental principles” that “Republicans have always talked about,” including “individual liberties,” “limited government,” and “states’ rights and the 10th Amendment.”
Norton noted that “we’ve had a threat to try to overturn our legalization initiative.” She was referring to Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), who after the D.C. vote told The Washington Post, “I will consider using all resources available to a member of Congress to stop this action.” Although there is no doubting Harris’s sincerity, those resources probably will prove inadequate.
