Michael Collins

(Washington, DC) The voters of your nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana for personal use. On November 4, 2014, 70.1% of D.C. voters said yes to the following changes to already liberal marijuana laws:

[Initiative #71] will make it lawful under District of Columbia law for a person 21 years of age or older to:

• possess up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use;

• grow no more than six cannabis plants with 3 or fewer being mature, flowering plants, within the person’s principal residence;

• transfer without payment (but not sell) up to one ounce of marijuana to another person 21 years of age or older; and

• use or sell drug paraphernalia for the use, growing, or processing of marijuana or cannabis. D.C. Cannabis Campaign (Image)

Two Republican leaders in the House of Representatives greeted the exercise in democracy with threats of jail for the D.C. mayor and chief of police. The very odd Representative Jason Chaffetz from Utah said:

“If you decide to move forward with the legalization of marijuana in the District, you will be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law. You can go to prison for this. We’re not playing a little game here.” Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) Washington Post, Feb 24

For years, Alaska had decriminalized possession of less than four ounces of marijuana for personal use, if the possession is in the citizen’s home. On the very same day that DC voters approved initiative #71, Nov 4, 2014, Alaska voters expanded marijuana rights to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six marijuana plants on their personal property. The Alaska ballot measure is very similar to the DC initiative.

No one in Congress threatened to jail the governor of Alaska or the attorney general if they enforce the approved measure in Alaska.

No one in Congress threatened to jail the governors or attorneys general of Colorado and Washington State when they implemented the voter approved ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana use.

Why are Washington, DC Government Officials Singled Out for Jail for Implementing the Will of the People?

The correct answer to the question is bottom left, Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, DC. The others are (clockwise) Governors Bill Walker, (R-AK), Jay Inslee (D-WA), and John Hickenlooper, (D-CO).

Mayor Bowser couldn’t have been singled out due to political affiliation. She is not the only Democrat in the group and no one is threatening to put Governors Jay Inslee and John Hickenlooper in jail.

Maybe it’s distance from the Capitol. Alaska, Colorado, and Washington State are all in the far West. But, if you oppose legalization, shouldn’t legalized marijuana be a problem wherever it occurs? We can’t infer that Rep Chaffetz is endorsing legalized marijuana by failing to call for the imprisonment of the three governors of pot friendly states. There must be something else that can explain singling out Bowser.

Let’s see … what’s left. A quick look at the picture should suffice. The selection of DC’s mayor for incarceration threats and the level of vitriol from Rep. Chaffetz probably have something to do with the fact that she’s black.

When Colorado voters passed legalization in 2012, Governor Hickenlooper said:

“If the voters go out and pass something and they put it in the state constitution, by a significant margin, far be it from myself or any governor to overrule. I mean, this is why it's a democracy, right?" Huffington Post, Dec 10, 2012

There were no threats of jail time for the governor.

But, when the Mayor of DC vows to implement the will of the people, expressed in a free and fair election, she becomes the target of threats.

It’s bad enough that a miscreant like Chaffetz makes these threats. It’s worse that congressional leaders fail to call Chaffetz out for this outrageous behavior. After all, he doesn’t have the power of demagogues from years past like Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI). Chaffetz is just another screw ball Member of Congress wasting out tax dollars by using his office as a window into his very distorted view of democracy: democracy is only good when it produces the results Chaffetz favors.

The Hope Offered by Legalized Marijuana in Your Nation’s Capitol

The United States Congress is a pathetic collection (for the most part) of bought and paid for hacks that unify under one banner – The Money Party. The Democrats and Republicans may differ on some social issues but the share common values – war mongering, disregard for the plight of hard working citizens, ignorance of key issues like climate change, etc. etc. It’s not likely that this will change anytime soon.

However, legalized marijuana has the potential to mitigate the damage done by Congress. It’s an accepted fact that those who use high-grade marijuana experience a lack of motivation. The more marijuana, the more frequently it’s used, the lower an individual’s motivation to act becomes.

Through the discrete introduction of edible marijuana like they have in Colorado, a fair number of our elected officials could become regular users. Instead of voting in favor of wars, they could get stoned and sit around playing fantasy war games like World of Warcraft or Call of Duty. This would satisfy their violent urges in a civilized fashion and occupy them to the point where they would lack the time to endorse and fund real wars.

The White House could also use a strong infusion of high-grade marijuana. President Barack Obama admitted to marijuana use in high school and college. Given his indifference exuberance in funding violent conflict and our crippling defense budget, Obama needs some help. Why should the president and his White House staff put their time to better use by getting totally blitzed on edibles and binging on horror films rather than create horror on places like Libya, Syria, and Ukraine?

There may still be hope for good government provided by a source no one would have expected.

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