Cannabis

Photos from the “Evening of Comedy” Fundraiser

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A big thank you to everyone who joined us last night to support the DC Cannabis Campaign!

The DC Cannabis Campaign will be organizing more fundraisers throughout 2014 to support the passage of the ballot initiative. Signup for the DC Cannabis Campaign’s email list on the right side of this page to stay informed about upcoming events.


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Press Release: DC Cannabis Campaign Calls On Mayor Gray To Issue Moratorium On Marijuana Arrests

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PRESS RELEASE
March 4, 2014

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

DC Cannabis Campaign Calls On Mayor Gray To Issue Moratorium On Marijuana Arrests

Congressional Review May Take Three Months and DC Residents Should Not Continue To Be Arrested

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the DC City Council passed the “Marijuana Possession Decriminalization Amendment Act of 2014” (B20-0409). This historic legislation will reduce the criminal penalties associated with the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana in the District of Columbia. Instead of facing arrest and potential jail time, citizens will have their marijuana and paraphernalia confiscated and will be issued a $25 ticket. Citizens caught smoking marijuana in public, possessing more than one ounce, or selling marijuana will still face criminal penalties and possible jail time.

After damning reports issued by the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs showed that the District of Columbia leads America in the racial disparities for marijuana arrests, Councilmembers Tommy Wells and Marion Barry introduced “Simple Possession of Small Quantities of Marijuana Decriminalization Act of 2013” on July 9, 2013. The legislation originally called for civil fines of $100 for possession and consumption of marijuana in public instead of arrest. At the first public hearing on October 23, 2013, witnesses suggested that the legislation be amended to reduce the civil fines to $25, similar to the current fine for the possession of an open container of alcohol in Washington, DC. At the second hearing on October 24, 2013, the Mayor’s office brought up their belief that the public consumption should remain illegal. To address these concerns, the legislation was further amended to keep the $100 fine for the public consumption of marijuana and make the fine $25 for the possession of marijuana. Lastly, in early February 2014, at the urging of Mayor Vincent Gray and Police Chief Cathy Lanier, the legislation was further amended by DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson to remove the $100 civil fine and keep criminal penalties in place for the public consumption of marijuana.

“While we support the dramatic reduction in penalties associated with marijuana possession, this legislation will still allow the police to continue to hassle and arrest District residents who choose to smoke marijuana,” says Adam Eidinger, Chairman of the DC Cannabis Campaign, a political committee working on a District ballot imitative that will further reduce criminal penalties associated with marijuana possession and cultivation of marijuana. “We are organizing so voters have a say on whether marijuana should be fully legal this November.”

“Mayor Gray should issue a moratorium on arrests for the possession of marijuana while the legislation is under Congressional Review. How many more DC residents need to be arrested while we wait for Congress?” asks Eidinger. “This is a Home Rule issue now and the Mayor needs to side with the people.”

The DC Cannabis Campaign is currently waiting for the DC Board of Elections to approve the campaign’s ballot initiative language. Upon approval, the campaign will need to obtain more than 25,000 valid signatures from registered DC voters by July 7 in order to put the initiative on the general election ballot in November.

For more information about the DC Cannabis Campaign, visit www.DCMJ.org.

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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.

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SOURCE: Aaron C. Davis, Washington Post

Also See:

Press Release: The DC Cannabis Campaign Prepares to Fight for Ballot Access

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PRESS RELEASE
February 24, 2014

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

The DC Cannabis Campaign Prepares to Fight for Ballot Access

Attorney General’s Analysis Won’t Hold Up in Court

WASHINGTON, DC – On February 25, 2014, the DC Board of Elections and Ethics (DCBOEE) will hold an administrative hearing on whether the DC Cannabis Campaign’s ballot initiative is fit to go before voters this November. Last week, DC Attorney General Irv Nathan released his analysis of the proposed ballot initiative and stated that his office was against the proposed legislation because he claims it violates federal law concerning the District’s ability to enforce federal housing laws. While the Attorney General’s opinion is not legally binding, if the DCBOEE sides with him, the DC Cannabis Campaign is prepared to take the DCBOEE to court to ensure voters have the opportunity to decide on this important matter November 4.

“The Attorney General’s legal analysis is just one legal theory designed to silence the will of the voters by attempting to throw out our ballot initiative,” says Adam Eidinger, chairman of the DC Cannabis Campaign.

“Under the proposed initiative, the District would be free to use the lease required by federal law and evict tenants who violate the terms of the lease, as well as regulate conduct made lawful by the initiative on property that it owns,” wrote attorney Joseph Sandler. “For that reason, there is absolutely no conflict between federal law and the proposed initiative.”

If the DCBOEE sides with the DC Cannabis Campaign and allows the ballot initiative to go forward, the DCBOEE will issue petitions for registered DC voters to sign. The Campaign will need to collect valid signatures from five percent of registered voters in DC, which amounts to nearly 24,000 valid signatures. In order to for the initiative to be put on the November general election ballot, the Campaign must submit the signatures by July 7.

“If the Board of Elections delays the initiative language approval, we’ll be forced to have a special election, which will cost the DC government nearly $1 million,” says Eidinger. “We’d much rather save the DC government the expense by allowing voters to decide the marijuana question during the general election.”

The DC Cannabis Campaign’s ballot initiative will permit District residents 21 and older to cultivate marijuana in their homes and allow residents to keep the marijuana grown at home for their personal use. The initiative does not permit the consumption of marijuana in public nor does it allow District residents to sell the marijuana they’ve grown. Furthermore, the initiative does not create a “Tax & Regulate” system similar to the successful ballot initiatives in Colorado and Washington. The District’s Home Rule Charter does not allow District residents to create any taxing authority through the ballot box, but it does allow District residents to expand freedoms.

“Poll after poll has shown DC residents support legal marijuana. The DCBOEE should empower citizens to vote on this important issue,” concludes Eidinger.

Full text of the DC Cannabis Campaign’s ballot initiative can be viewed at www.DCMJ.org/ballot-initiative/.

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2014 Marijuana Legalization Initiative–Legal Analysis 2-19-14 (1)

DCMJ Letter to Ken McGhie 2 21 14 SENT

WAMU: Soap Maker Who Backed Pot Legalization In Colorado Supports Same Effort In D.C.

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A California-based organic soap maker is putting big money into a ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana in D.C., following similar donations to initiatives that did the same in Colorado and Washington state.

David Bronner, owner of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, has donated $20,000 to the initiative, which was filed with the D.C. Board of Elections in January. If it makes it to the November ballot and is approved by voters, D.C. residents over the age of 21 would be allowed to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, sell one ounce at a time and keep three mature plants in their homes.

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SOURCE: Martin Austermuhle, WAMU

Also See:
National Journal: D.C.’s Pot Legalization Initiative Gets Some Unexpected Star Power

My FOX DC – Obama: Marijuana no more dangerous than alcohol

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DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG

President Obama doesn’t think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer,” he told “The New Yorker” magazine in an interview.

“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol,” the president said.

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SOURCE: Matt Ackland, My FOX DC

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.”

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SOURCE: Andrea Noble, Washington Times

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