House Subcommittee Will Hold Hearing On D.C.'s Marijuana Decriminalization Bill Next Month

Members of the House of Representatives will hold a hearing on D.C.'s marijuana decriminalization bill next month, a move that could lead to it being overturned under the Home Rule Act.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations will hold the hearing to examine possible conflicts with federal law.

"The Subcommittee on Government Operations has conducted an ongoing examination of the tension between Federal laws against marijuana use and distribution with local laws in places like Colorado. This included a hearing with a Colorado based U.S. Attorney who testified about the difficulties created by the conflict of laws in his state," Becca Glover Watkins, Communications Director for House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said in an email.

"Though there are many parallels to the situation in states like Colorado, the District of Columbia utilizes the Federal Court systems for prosecuting many offenses and an array of law enforcement agencies maintain a significant presence due to the foot print of the Federal government in our nation's capital. How will these agencies enforce the law? The Committee continues to examine these unique factors as part of its broader examination of tension between federal and local marijuana laws in many jurisdictions. The Committee will release more information as its efforts move forward."

In a release, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said the hearing will "single out" D.C.'s law and "could be the first step to overturn" it. She will be allowed to testify this May, a privilege that has been denied to her in the past.

“It is appropriate for Congress to examine how the Obama administration will enforce the federal prohibition on marijuana in jurisdictions that have legalized or decriminalized it, as the subcommittee has done in two hearings this Congress. It is also appropriate to examine whether the federal marijuana prohibition preempts such local laws, but no local officials were called to testify at those hearings," she said in a release. "It is inappropriate to hold a hearing on the local marijuana laws of only one jurisdiction, the District of Columbia, when 18 states have decriminalized marijuana, 21 states have legalized medical marijuana and two states have legalized marijuana. There is nothing that distinguishes the District from these states except for Congress’s illegitimate power to overturn the democratically enacted local laws of the District. What is clear is that the enforcement of marijuana laws here and throughout the country has a disproportionately unfair effect on African American men and boys, leaving them with criminal records that often cripple them for the rest of their lives."

The Council passed the bill in early March, and it was signed by Mayor Vince Gray in late March. It is now under 60-day Congressional review.

To actually overturn a D.C. law, Congress must pass a joint resolution that has to be approved by the President. Only three of these resolutions have ever been passed, the last in 1991. But Congress can also block D.C. from spending funds to implement laws, as it did in 1998 with a medical marijuana program.