DC marijuana initiative makes november ballot

The DC Board of Elections today officially certified for the November ballot an initiative that will legalize the cultivation and possession of small amounts of marijuana. DC now joins Alaska and Oregon in voting on marijuana legalization this fall.

The board certified Ballot Initiative 71, sponsored by the DC Cannabis Campaign. The campaign needed some 23,800 valid voter signatures to qualify for the ballot. It had turned in more than twice that number of raw signatures.

The initiative will allow adults 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and cultivate up to six plants -- with no more than three being mature -- in their private residences. Adults will also be allowed to give away up to an ounce of marijuana, but any sales would still be criminal. The initiative will also remove penalties for using and selling marijuana paraphernalia.

Because DC law forbids taxation through the initiative process, the initiative does not create a system of taxed and regulated marijuana sales. If the initiative passes, it will be up to the DC city council to take the final steps toward full-blown legal marijuana commerce in the nation's capital.

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