Ballot Initiative

DC Board of Elections Approves Ballot Initiative Language

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Today we received word from the DC Board of Elections that our ballot initiative has been approved!

SO WHAT IS NEXT? According to Section 1002 of the DC Elections Laws, the Board of Elections now has up to 20 calendar days to create a summary of the initiative, a short title of the initiative, and amend the initiative to conform to any laws that were passed since we submitted the initiative back in January. Once completed, the Board of Elections has 5 more days to notify the DC Cannabis Campaign of any changes and then submit the finalized ballot initiative to the DC Register for publication. Finally, once published in the DC Register, the public has 10 days to challenge the summary, short title, or the legislative form of the ballot initiative. After the expiration of the challenge period, the Board of Elections will issue the DC Cannabis Campaign the nominating petitions, and we’ll have until July 7 to collect more than 25,000 valid signatures from DC voters.

We hope the Board of Elections will work quickly to finalize the ballot initiative so we can start collecting signatures as soon as possible!

Here’s the approval letter from the DC Board of Elections:

Washington Post: Advocates press for marijuana legalization measure on D.C. ballot

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The District should set aside the warnings of its attorney general and let voters decide whether they want to legalize marijuana possession in the nation’s capital, advocates for the measure argued Tuesday before the D.C. Board of Elections.

The band of marijuana advocates is seeking to make the District one of the first East Coast cities to legalize marijuana possession. If it successfully gets the measure on the November ballot, legalization has a strong chance of being approved, according to a recent Washington Post poll, and it could hasten the arrival in Washington of a debate that has simmered mostly in Western states.

Continue Reading…

SOURCE: Aaron C. Davis, Washington Post

Also See:

WJLA: D.C. Cannabis Campaign pushes to legalize marijuana

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WASHINGTON (WJLA) – Many people would prefer to keep pot out of the District, but now there’s a grassroots effort to loosen the law so residents can light up legally.

According to the man behind the movement, it’s time D.C. gets with the times:

“This is the number one civil rights issue of our day,” said Adam Eidinger. “Nobody is going to jail for anything quite like this.”

The D.C. Cannabis Campaign chair is making legalizing marijuana his mission.

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SOURCE: Jenny Doren, WJLA

Press Release: DC Residents Submit Marijuana Voter Initiative For General Election

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PRESS RELEASE
January 15, 2014

CONTACT: Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671
Adam@DCMJ.org

DC Residents Submit Marijuana Voter Initiative For General Election

Passage Would Allow Possession of Small Amounts of Marijuana

WASHINGTON, DC – After soliciting comments from the public since October 2013 and working within the District of Columbia’s limited powers afforded to voter initiatives, the DC Cannabis Campaign submitted ballot initiative language on Friday, January 10, 2013. The campaign’s ballot initiative can be viewed at www.DCMJ.org

The proposed initiative is currently being reviewed by the DC Board of Elections and Ethics for legal completeness. The campaign anticipates a public hearing next month. Once approved, the campaign will need to gather over 23,000 signatures from registered voters of the District of Columbia by this summer in order to make it on to the general election ballot in November.

“We’ve listened to the public for three months and worked with stakeholders to submit the most workable language that enshrines marijuana consumer rights, including limited home cultivation,” says Adam Eidinger who submitted the initiative. “Our initiative will restore dignity to a whole group of people living in the shadows, who’ve had opportunities denied for simply using marijuana versus other legal even more dangerous substances.”

The Home Rule Act of the District of Columbia prohibits ballot initiatives from creating taxing authority, like those passed in Colorado and Washington, but the campaign believes that residents should not have to fear government repression for growing, consuming, and possessing marijuana in the privacy of their homes.

“Back in 1998, over 69% of District residents approved a medical marijuana ballot initiative that allowed the home cultivation of cannabis, but in 2010 the Council removed this right,” says Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance. “We want to return this right back to the people.”

“Mayoral candidate and current Ward 6 councilmember Tommy Wells decriminalization of marijuana legislation is a good start for fixing DC’s unjust marijuana laws, “ says Piper. “The next step is allowing DC residents to grow their own supply of marijuana so they are not reliant on the illicit market. Ultimately, the city should tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol.”

When marijuana possession in DC is decriminalized this Spring, home cultivation will not be permitted and will remain a criminal offense. The campaign’s ballot initiative seeks to change this and allow individuals to grow up to six plants inside their homes and a maximum of 12 plants in a residence.

“We allow people to brew beer at home, so why shouldn’t we allow District residents the freedom to grow a few marijuana plants?” asks Eidinger.
For more information visit http://DCMJ.org

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Washington Times: D.C. proposal would allow ounce of weed, 6 plants per household

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“Activists in Washington, D.C., plan to submit an initiative by week’s end that would put marijuana legalization on the ballot in the nation’s capital in November — making the city one of a handful of jurisdictions poised to ask voters to consider the issue this year.

The proposal that is expected to be submitted to the D.C. Board of Elections would allow residents to legally grow up to six marijuana plants per household and possess and transfer up to an ounce of the drug without penalty.

Submission of the ballot language is just the beginning of an arduous process that will require supporters, who have formed a campaign committee and recruited volunteers, to collect thousands of signatures and persuade voters to approve the measure.”

Continue Reading…

SOURCE: Andrea Noble, Washington Times

Also see DCist: Marijuana Activists Will Submit Final Legalization Ballot Initiative This Week

WAMU: D.C. Campaign Becomes First To Accept Bitcoin Contributions

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By: Martin Austermuhle

Unorthodox campaign, unorthodox campaign contributions.

A D.C. group looking to legalize marijuana via a ballot initiative next November is accepting campaign contributions made with bitcoin, an electronic form of currency popular among tech circles. With the move, the group, known as the D.C. Cannabis Campaign, becomes the first campaign in D.C. history and one of the few in the country accepting contributions made with the currency.

“You use currency in politics… this is the future,” says Adam Eidinger, the D.C. activist behind the campaign to drop penalties on the possession of small amounts of marijuana. He says that bitcoins are merely another means to fund candidates and campaigns.

Bitcoin was first developed in 2009, and works as a peer-to-peer means to pay for goods and services while avoiding many of the fees imposed by credit card companies. Bitcoins are also exchangeable for traditional currency; coins can now go for more than $1,000. There are some 12 million bitcoins currently in circulation.

Continue Reading on WAMU

Draft Ballot Initiative – Please Leave Feedback!

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DC Cannabis Campaign Draft Ballot Initiative Language

What do you think?


NOTE: Google Forms do not work on smartphones.

Thank you for your comments! We closed the public comment period on January 9, 2014. Below are the anonymous comments submitted by the public:

10/18/13 11:38 “6 plants is too many and would produce much more than 2 oz. of MJ. each plant would weigh more than 2 oz. You should make clear that MJ is in usable form and not to be considered if still on the leaf. plants should be limited to residence rather than the person. If 5 people live in a group home, if they all get to grow 6 plants, you got 18 plants.”
10/18/13 13:51 “The “”with 3 or fewer being mature plants”” language is very strange and makes little sense. In fact the smallest hydro units hold at least 6 small plants and I can’t imagine anyone using them for fewer. And vegetation and harvesting will all be done as a group. Also there’s much difference between the amount that can be produced by large plants and small plants. Many hydro plants are forced into bloom at 10″” high while large plants can reach 10′ even indoors. The quantity limit should be on the weight of buds combined or total height, not plant number if anything.”
10/19/13 20:28 Sounds good to me!
10/25/13 14:21 “i think this is a great cause! I think this will eliminate a few things in Dc, including less lock ups,more low income residents chances to obtain employment and other opportunites. After 1998, what was the real holdup? Isnt this just as important and fair as same sex marriage? i think so, so if i can help contact me!
10/25/13 14:47 I think this is great. We finally have a voice for the people. This type of movement will enhance a lot of things. These fines for posession of marijuana are really outrageous, and it’s time we take a stand. What time is better than now, especillay when you have a whole city behind you.
11/20/13 16:21 Why not age 18 or 19?
12/10/13 14:18 It might make more sense to change the age limit to 18. It’s where I, and many folks think it should be. Right now the precedent is 21, but if we change to 18 it might influence other municipalities and change the precedent.
12/10/13 14:22 So happy to be getting this email and hear of the progress!! Shouldn’t the bill clarify procedures for smoking and operating a vehicle? Washington Initiative 502 makes it clear that it’s illegal, and I’ve had friends arrested for simply sitting in their car smoking a joint.”
12/16/13 17:42 Looks quite good. As many protective measures as possible so no unlawful circumventing of your vision/purpose/proposal.
1/6/14 13:49 Marijuana is used as a means of calming and pain relief. I personally feel that marijuana has helped me with my manic symptoms in my bi-polar disorder. It also helps my anxiety disorder. Taking several anti-depressants and anti-psychotic have only helped to zombify and mummified me. They don’t allow me to engage in a normal life with daily activities. Marijuana has helped me to engage in society without feeling anxious and paranoid.
1/6/14 14:15 I think is great and reads well.
1/6/14 14:47 make sure it includes home cultivation explicitly so they can not deny what the people want! make sure it does not restrict people with prior criminal records for drugs from participating and make sure there is very little or no regulation other than marijuana possession, use, sale, cultivation and creation of food and concentrates will be legal for all adults over 21.
1/6/14 15:10 Para 6: property owners, ie, landlords, could restrict a tenant’s right to grow. DELETE!!!!!
1/6/14 15:55 Looks like we can kiss the days of going to jail for a gram goodbye with this legislation! The first step towards a more logical culture.
1/7/14 1:03 Great
1/7/14 10:13 DC residents should be free to grow their own marijuana!
1/8/14 10:17 Canabis should be legal. It is much less less harmful than alcohol and many prescription drugs
1/8/14 16:59 I read the ballot initiative and found it well written and composed . I support the ballot initiative in its entire form and agree that it should be ratified and immediately implemented.
1/8/14 20:51 It’s about time, please legalize marijuana. No more war on drugs, no more people having their records ruined for a lifetime for smoking a plant. Sick people needs it, mental patients need it and I include myself in this category, marijuana safe my life, it calms me down and stops my repetitive bad thoughts in its tracks. I have Maniac depression and I need Marijuana to snap out of hell or depression and mania. I’m a professional, I have a career, a house, I pay taxes and I love and trust this country. Do the right thing and legalize recreational use of Marijuana. Thank You.