The Democrats Betrayed the People of D.C. – The New Republic

Some lawmakers, like Norton and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, still lay the blame solely at Republicans feet. Clearly the dysfunction that exists in Congress means that they need Republicans on board to move spending bills, says Mendelson, adding that he doesnt blame Democrats for trying to move legislation. Norton notes that the House was able to easily eliminate the budget riders in its draft spending bill because the chamber has a more comfortable Democratic majority; it was a tougher sell in the Senate, where the party has less leverage.

They are nevertheless frustrated by what the Harris Rider means in practice for the city, where a robust market of cannabis gifting and delivery services has developed in the wake of residents 2014 vote to legalize weeda market that the Harris Rider makes it illegal to regulate in any way, from banking to quality control and public safety. And that says nothing of the fact that residents can hop over the D.C. border to Maryland, home of Andy Harris and Republican Governor Larry Hogan, where lawmakers are in the middle of passing a framework to create a recreational weed market. In the citys other neighbor, Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, while skeptical of legalizing weed sales, has conceded that he isnt interested in recriminalizing the drug.

Democrats need to just get real clear and real serious. What is the partys policy when it comes to cannabis? Because we have been nibbling around the edges with this hodgepodge patchwork system amongst the states, and all it takes, really, is one presidential administration with an overzealous attorney general who disagrees, Henderson says. This is incoherent. The Democratic Party has an incoherent message when it comes to cannabis policy. (Mendelson is more blunt in his assessment: Congress is dealing with this half-assed. Make it legal, make it illegalnot that I want them to make it illegalbut do something rather than this purgatory.)

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The Democrats Betrayed the People of D.C. - The New Republic