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 The proposed legislation to regulate marijuana sales in the
District of Columbia is part of a sharp shift in U.S. public opinion
in the past several years that has pushed legalized pot toward the
mainstream.
Advocates at the hearing said the legal sale of marijuana was a top
civil rights issue since blacks were far more likely to be arrested
for pot possession than people of other races.
“It is time to end the failed experiment of marijuana prohibition.
It has ... made criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens,”
Stacia Cosner, deputy director of the advocacy group Students for
Sensible Drug Policy, told the joint hearing of the council's
finance and business committees.
The proposal would legalize marijuana possession and private
consumption for people 21 and older. Marijuana sales would be
regulated by the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration
and taxed similarly to alcohol.
 Under the law proposed by independent Councilman David Grosso,
marijuana sold for recreational purposes would be taxed at 15
percent. Medical marijuana would be taxed at 6 percent. Non-medical marijuana revenue would go into a fund that supports
public services, such as youth programs and drug prevention
education. An NBC4/Washington Post/Marist poll last month showed
Washington voters backed legalization by a two-to-one margin. Nov.
4 ballot initiatives in the District of Columbia, Oregon and Alaska
will decide on legalizing marijuana, and they could join the states
of Colorado and Washington. Decriminalization of pot in the District
of Columbia took effect in July.
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More than 30 activists and policy experts testified on Thursday, and
they overwhelmingly favored Grosso's bill.
But Lanre Falusi, a pediatrician, said legalization would increase
access to the drug. "A growing number of medical studies are showing
the true dangers of marijuana,” she said, and the bill would put
minority youth in poverty at risk.
Grosso responded, “I don’t think you can do more harm, in the
District of Columbia or in this country, than putting them behind
bars.”
Marijuana reform in Washington could face scrutiny from the U.S.
Congress, which has constitutional oversight over the capital.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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