Just days after promoting cannabis reform actions during his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden has released a budget plan that proposes to maintain a controversial provision prohibiting Washington, D.C., from using its local tax dollars to legalize cannabis sales.
The Fiscal Year 2025 budget request, sent to Congress on Monday, also contains some good news for cannabis reform supporters, however. It once again proposes to keep in place a longstanding rider preventing the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere in the implementation of state-level medical cannabis programs.
The D.C. language is the latest disappointment for advocates, marking the fourth year in a row that the president has included the rider from Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) that undermines the District's autonomy on cannabis. This year will also mark the 10-year anniversary of D.C. voters approving legalization on the ballot, only to have Congress prevent the local government from implementing a regulated market.
D.C. lawmakers have enacted certain workarounds, including allowing people to self-certify as medical cannabis patients. And there's growing bipartisan interest in removing the congressional rider. But the decade-long blockade has been a consistent source of frustration.
Read more at marijuanamoment.net