DC Voters to Decide on Marijuana Legalization in November

[Comrade Grumpy]

Source: Washington Post

D.C. residents will vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana use in the nation’s capital after elections officials voted Wednesday to place the question on the ballot.

The three-member D.C. Board of Elections voted unanimously Wednesday morning to approve the ballot initiative, certifying that activists gathered the tens of thousands of voter signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot.

Several of those activists attended Wednesday’s meeting and cheered the vote, which puts D.C. further down the path of joining Colorado and Washington as the only places in the nation where marijuana possession and cultivation is fully legal.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-voters-to-decide-on-marijuana-use-in-november/2014/08/06/11e15576-1d7a-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html

---

Legalization is also on the ballot in Alaska and Oregon. It'll be a trifecta this year.

Then on to 2016. California will lead the way then.

[tabasco]

1. Please do it!

I'm within driving distance. We need an east coast location to get high legally.

[Comrade Grumpy]

2. I am confident this will pass, but it doesn't allow for pot shops.

Under DC law, initiatives cannot do taxation-related items, which is what a "tax and regulate" marijuana sales scheme would be.

The initiative only legalizes personal possession and cultivation (and giving of up to an ounce); it will be up to the DC city council to enact legislation to allow for marijuana retail sales. There is already such a bill before it.

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. Just a shade above decriminalization then?

In other words, they just won't fine anyone - and its still illegal to sell it.

Interesting step.

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Not quite. DC already has decriminalization.

The council just passed that a few weeks ago.

Under decrim, the cops can still take your weed and give you a ticket. And you can't grow your own.

Under the initiative, the cops can't take your weed or give you a ticket, and you can grow your own.

As I said above, because of DC law, the initiative can't get into "tax and regulate." The council will have to do that, and it looks like it is prepared to do so.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Thats what I said

Thanks for the specifics. That is how it read - you would be able to own, but you can't actually legally BUY it.

The aerogardens are going to fly off the shelf

[Ed Suspicious]

8. Thankfully with a little knowledge and some decent lighting the stuff

grows like a weed.

[tabasco]

6. I've been meaning to make some friends in DC ....

[Uncle Joe]

7. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Comrade Grumpy.