Dozens of supporters marched from the Department of Justice past the Capitol to the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday to protest Congress' attempt to block implementation of D.C.'s voter-approved marijuana legalization initiative.
"We voted! It counted! You must respect our ballot!" the demonstrators chanted in response to a Congressional spending bill that, according to the House Appropriations Committee, "prohibits both federal and local funds from being used to implement a referendum legalizing recreational marijuana use in the District." D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton contends that the rider language – "None of the funds contained in this Act may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation – allows for laws that have already been enacted to be funded. This would include both marijuana decriminalization and legalization for private use in D.C. No laws to regulate or tax recreational marijuana have passed the D.C. Council.
Despite the confusion, the D.C. Cannabis Campaign led a march up Pennsylvania Avenue NW to the Heritage Foundation to protest Congress' attempt to overturn the will of 65 percent of D.C. voters.
"We should be able to write our own laws," Adam Eidinger, chair of the Cannabis Campaign – the group responsible for getting the initiative on the November ballot – told the protesters. "We don't want any riders in D.C."
The group eventually arrived at the Heritage Foundation, where Maryland Rep. Andy Harris recently spoke at a panel on why states and cities should oppose legal marijuana. Harris is behind the new rider and an earlier attempt to block marijuana decriminalization in D.C.
"You're on the wrong side of history!" one protester shouted at a man leaving the think tank's headquarters near Union Station.
Holding a banner that read "No Taxation Without Representation," Eidinger and a handful of other demonstrators blocked traffic on Massachusetts Avenue.
"You're not even going to let the pizza delivery guy get through?" a Metropolitan Police Department officer asked the protesters.
News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: DCist: News, Food, Arts & Events
Author: Sarah Anne Hughes
Contact: Contact . DCist
Website: Supporters Of Legal Marijuana, D.C. Autonomy Stage March To Oppose Congressional Spending Bill: DCist
"We voted! It counted! You must respect our ballot!" the demonstrators chanted in response to a Congressional spending bill that, according to the House Appropriations Committee, "prohibits both federal and local funds from being used to implement a referendum legalizing recreational marijuana use in the District." D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton contends that the rider language – "None of the funds contained in this Act may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation – allows for laws that have already been enacted to be funded. This would include both marijuana decriminalization and legalization for private use in D.C. No laws to regulate or tax recreational marijuana have passed the D.C. Council.
Despite the confusion, the D.C. Cannabis Campaign led a march up Pennsylvania Avenue NW to the Heritage Foundation to protest Congress' attempt to overturn the will of 65 percent of D.C. voters.
"We should be able to write our own laws," Adam Eidinger, chair of the Cannabis Campaign – the group responsible for getting the initiative on the November ballot – told the protesters. "We don't want any riders in D.C."
The group eventually arrived at the Heritage Foundation, where Maryland Rep. Andy Harris recently spoke at a panel on why states and cities should oppose legal marijuana. Harris is behind the new rider and an earlier attempt to block marijuana decriminalization in D.C.
"You're on the wrong side of history!" one protester shouted at a man leaving the think tank's headquarters near Union Station.
Holding a banner that read "No Taxation Without Representation," Eidinger and a handful of other demonstrators blocked traffic on Massachusetts Avenue.
"You're not even going to let the pizza delivery guy get through?" a Metropolitan Police Department officer asked the protesters.
News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: DCist: News, Food, Arts & Events
Author: Sarah Anne Hughes
Contact: Contact . DCist
Website: Supporters Of Legal Marijuana, D.C. Autonomy Stage March To Oppose Congressional Spending Bill: DCist
