Up in Smoke? House Conservatives Eye Ban on Marijuana in DC Budget Bill

Conservative members of the House of Representatives are contemplating attempting to ban marijuana in the District of Columbia by amending a funding bill in Congress.

The District relies on some federal funding to pay for part of its budget. Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are discussing tying the funding to conservative priorities in a modified version of a Senate budget bill to fund the District.

Caucus members have also proposed restricting D.C. government funding for abortions and requiring that the District allow concealed-carry licenses for guns. 

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, has reportedly asked House Republican leadership to provide time for members of Congress to consider how to modify the D.C. budget resolution to potentially include conservative policies on drugs, abortion, and guns

Harris has a history of opposing lax drug enforcement when it comes to cannabis. In 2014, the D.C. Council approved a bill that decriminalized marijuana and made possession of up to one ounce of the Schedule I substance in public punishable by a mere $25 fine.

Harris opposed the measure at the time. According to the Maryland congressman, one ounce translates to about 100 joints. Harris proposed an amendment to prevent the District from using tax revenues to enforce decriminalization and decried the new policy as failing to protect minors.

D.C. voters subsequently approved a referendum that legalized marijuana by a margin of 7-to-3. That vote allowed residents of the District who are 21 years old or older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana. It also allowed them to grow three marijuana plants at home. 

Harris, a former Navy Medical Corps officer who practiced anesthesiology for nearly three decades, noted the harmful effects of marijuana.

“The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Food and Drug Administration have held long-standing opinions that marijuana is a psychoactive drug that is both addictive and harmful,” Harris told The Daily Signal.

The DEA explained that marijuana leads to difficulties with memory, thinking, and problem-solving, and loss of coordination. It also notes that long-term and regular usage of the drug can lead to physical dependence and withdrawal symptoms after one discontinues using it.

“Despite a lack of much scientific research showing safety, over three dozen states have already legalized the recreational use of marijuana. The American public deserves to know the potential harm of modern marijuana on the human body. While I support additional research for the use of medical marijuana, my position on recreational marijuana remains the same: I categorically oppose it,” Harris said.