A federal oversight agency has determined that a congressionally enacted spending bill rider that prevents Washington, D.C. from legalizing marijuana sales does not preclude local officials from taking procedural steps to prepare for the eventual reform. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), a legalization opponent who’s routinely sponsored the amendment to stop D.C. from spending its own local tax dollars to implement a regulated cannabis market, complained to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2019 after members of the District of Columbia Council introduced a legal sales bill and referred it to committees. But on Monday, GAO released a letter clarifying that nothing in federal law prevents the city officials from taking such preliminary legislative steps as long as the proposal isn’t actually enacted while the congressional ban stays on the books.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 03/08/2021 15:11:00