The DC Pot Law

The Mayor of the City of Washington, DC signed a piece of legislation on Monday that will decriminalize marijuana possession in a resident's home to a fine of $25. This fine will be applicable to smoking it in one's home but smoking pot in public will remain a criminal offense with jail time applied.

But wait! Unlike other states and cities across the country, DC is unique in that it MUST get the Congress to sign off on any law or ordinance the city enacts.

I have provided the article which appeared in THE HILL Monday afternoon.

I have an issue with this process. Unlike a city like New York or Boston, I think it is unfair that every law that the city enacts must be scrutinized by the Congress. In addition, the Congress has sixty days to decide if it will approve and sign off on the law or ordinance. Perhaps this may have made sense in the 18th and 19th Centuries, but I cannot find a valid reason this is still the case. 

Imagine if New York or Philadelphia were still the Capital of the United States. This activity would create chaos and upheaval in either city. And, by the way, DC is not some one horse town like it was 200 years ago. It has a population of almost 650,000, larger than either Boston or Baltimore, as of 2012.

Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Dougtone)

So, essentially it is a city unique in the United States. It is a city-state. After all, it provides electors to the electoral college, like any state, based on the terms defined in the Twenty Third Amendment to the Constitution.

Therefore, since it acts as a state, its laws should not have to be reviewed by the Congress.

As you know, I have since the 1970s been a proponent of Medical Marijuana and since the 1990s have been in favor of legalized marijuana for recreational use, as well. While I choose not to smoke or otherwise use pot, I think the federal government is losing out on opportunities available to it if pot were legalized as alcohol is. It would be controlled by the ATF, like tobacco and alcohol.

If you go to my blogsite,  you will find many commentaries on marijuana espousing my reasons to legalize it nationwide for medical and recreational purposes.

You know what? It really is time to grow up, America. Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and the modern-day prohibition of pot isn't going too well, either.

Who doesn't see that?