House Reps. Challenge Biden's Block On Adult-Use Marijuana Sales In D.C.

On Wednesday, a group of House Representatives released a measure that could override a long-standing presidential denial of recreational marijuana sales in Washington D.C.

Background: Adult-use cannabis was made legal in Washington D.C. by a ballot vote in 2014. However, since the District of Columbia is not a state, it lacks certain liberties for exercising control over the implementation of its cannabis policy.

While adults over 21 are allowed to grow and possess marijuana, commercial sales remain barred by a rider that has been consistently included in all presidential budget proposals since 2014.

In January, President Biden’s $3 trillion dollar budget for 2022 kept that same language, which has been riding federal budget bills throughout the Obama and Trump presidencies for years. The language has since prevented the development of a legal adult-use industry by blocking D.C. from selling and taxing recreational marijuana.

Scrapping The Rider: Rep. Mike Quigley, Chairman of the House Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee is pushing for a spending bill that lifts that ban.

The bill would also give banks that want to work with state-legal cannabis businesses protection from federal prosecution.

The measure will be voted in the subcommittee on Thursday and then will move to the appropriations panel next week, reported Marijuana Moment. According to the publication, this is not the first time the House has scrapped the D.C. cannabis block in the budget bill. However, the rider has been included in previous years by Republican-controlled senates.

If the legislation moves to a full appropriations debate, it could set the stage for a cannabis-related quarrel between the House and the Biden presidency.

Photo by Darren Halstead on Unsplash