Opinion ID: 2787401
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Marijuana Decriminalization Amendment

Text: The Marijuana Decriminalization Amendment was first introduced before the Council of the District of Columbia on July 10, 2013, and was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety. 60 D.C. Reg. 10612 (2013). After a hearing, the committee recommended that the Council approve the bill. D.C. Council, Report on Bill 20-409 (Jan. 15, 2014). The bill was amended eight times before it was enacted by the Council and signed by the Mayor on March 31, 2014. 61 D.C. Reg. 3482 (2014). The act, in relevant part, amended existing criminal statutes to decriminalize “the possession or transfer without remuneration of marijuana weighing one ounce or less,” making it a civil violation. Marijuana Decriminalization Amendment § 101 (a), 61 D.C. Reg. 3482 (2014). An individual who commits that civil violation can be fined $25. Id. §§ 103 (a), (b)(1), 61 D.C. Reg. 3482-83 (2014). The act also decriminalized the possession of paraphernalia associated with such possession. Id. §§ 101 (c), 409 (a), 61 D.C. Reg. 3482, 3487 (2014). 4 The effective-date provision of the legislation stated that “[t]his act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor . . . , a 60-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(2) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, . . . and publication in the District of Columbia Register.” Id. § 503, 61 D.C. Reg. 3488 (2014). The act was published in the D.C. Register on April 4, 2014, 61 D.C. Reg. 3482 (2014), and transmitted to Congress four days later. It became law when the sixty-day review period expired without Congressional action on July 17, 2014. 61 D.C. Reg. 8250 (2014).