Though Washington D.C.’s marijuana laws are far from complete, cannabis policy in our nation’s capital has long been at a standstill. In D.C., you can smoke marijuana in private residences, own a small amount of weed, and grow marijuana plants at home. You cannot, however, buy or sell marijuana. So how are people who don’t want to grow their own herb getting weed? Despite federal restrictions, marijuana pop-up markets that ‘gift’ rather than sell weed are flourishing throughout the district. Here’s a closer look at D.C.’s underground marijuana community and the legislation keeping Mary Jane in the dark.
Initiative 71 Legalized Weed Possession and Little Else
David Berkowitz/flickr
I-71 legalized recreational marijuana. This means that anyone over 21 can have 2 ounces of weed, grow six plants (three flowering at a time, technically), give 1 ounce of weed away without receiving payment, and smoke in a private home.
Since I-71 passed in 2015, legislators haven’t proposed a system for regulating and taxing marijuana. This is largely due to federal, rather than district politics. Shortly after D.C. approved marijuana legislation, the federal government passed a law that prevents the D.C. city council from holding a hearing to reschedule marijuana.
According to the Home Rule Act, Congress has to approve all legislation passed by D.C.’s council. This means that unlike other states that can pass their own legislation, D.C. needs federal approval. Without a Democratic majority in Congress, progress in marijuana laws is impossible.
In fact, the bill that permits marijuana possession only squeaked through because Congress didn’t approve a federal budget on time and missed the 30 day review period. To top it all off, D.C. doesn’t have any senators, so they have no representation federally.
This means that buying or producing commercial quantities of