Blowing Smoke, DC edition

Marijuana use is now legal in the District of Columbia. 

A lot of people see this a a big win for pro-pot/medical marijuana/hemp crowd, and it surely is. 

But, it is probably a bigger deal for DC autonomy. 

Although Home Rule (established in 1973) gives the city the right to govern itself, that right is circumscribed.  Congress can prevent any legislation passed by the city government from taking effect. 

In 1998, the year I moved to the DMV, Congress wouldn't even allow the city to report the outcome of ballot Initiative 59, which would have allowed for the legalization of medical marijuana.  The bill's congressional opponents said they would never allow the initiative to take effect, and as such, wouldn't bother counting the votes.   

Those votes were eventually counted, and the initiative passed handily (69% in favor).  It didn't matter, though.  Congress had the final say. 

Congress tried the same heavy handed approach to the city's most recent marijuana initiative.  It told the city it could not spend any money to enforce the law, and when it was clear the District was moving forward with a legalization plan, the chair of the Congressional Subcommittee in charge of DC threatened to put Mayor Muriel Bowser in jail. 

Well, Bowser is still a free woman, the sky has not fallen (to quote Bowser), and it looks like the city's congressional opponents were blowing smoke.

It won't work for everything, but Bowser's decision to ignore Congress and heed the will of DC voters in the process, is a good sign for DC's autonomy.