washington dc

By ASHA BEH, NBC Washington

Same-sex marriage? Check. Medical marijuana? Check. President Obama? Check.

When it comes to "the progressive, activist social agenda being pursued by the D.C. Council," District residents are on board -- at least in the majority-white areas, according to a Washington Post poll conducted last month. 

The poll responses, along with sky high approval ratings for President Obama, help confirm the city's reputation as one of the most left-leaning jurisdictions in the country.

... But overall support masks racial divides on many of the new policies approved by the council, underscoring that residents in majority-white areas feel far different about a variety of issues than their counterparts in majority-black neighborhoods.

By Tim Craig, Washington Post

The District would have up to five medical marijuana dispensaries where seriously ill patients could go to obtain the drug from a licensed vendor under a bill proposed Tuesday by D.C. Council member David A. Catania.

Catania's proposal, which was co-sponsored by nine of 13 council members, is designed to implement a 1998 voter-approved initiative that called for the legalization of medical marijuana in the District.

By. Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic

In Washington DC, there's considerable anticipation of the medical marijuana initiative finally being allowed to take effect. DC voters backed Initiative 59 with 69 percent support in 1998, but, of course, American citizens have less self-rule in Washington than Iraqis have in Baghdad, and so a bunch of congressmen from far far away decided that we needed their rule rather than democracy and voided the whole thing. But that ended last month with an appropriations bill and a Congressional majority that believes in democracy at home as well as abroad.

Good timing. New research suggests that marijuana acts in the opposite fashion to legal and taxed alcohol and nicotine, and fr from destroying brain cells, actually helps them re-grow:

By James Hohmann and Tim Craig Washington Post

The U.S. Senate passed a bill Sunday that clears the way for the District government to allow medical marijuana use and to spend local tax dollars to help low-income women pay for abortions.

by Ben Morris

The U.S. Senate today passed historic legislation to end the decade-long ban on implementing a medical marijuana law in Washington, D.C. This marks the first time in history Congress has changed a marijuana law for the better. Only Obama’s signature is needed for the change to become law.

This is not only a huge victory for medical marijuana patients in the nation’s capital, it marks a historic shift on the medical marijuana issue nationwide. This is the first time Congress has given its assent to a state or local law that permits medical use of marijuana. Coming on top of the announcement that the Justice Department will no longer interfere with state medical marijuana laws, this shows that the ground has fundamentally shifted.

by Ben Morris

Congress released the language of a long anticipated bill today that, among other things, will lift the ban on Washington, D.C.’s medical marijuana law. D.C. is now one big step closer to protecting patients from arrest and jail for using marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.

Ten years ago, D.C. residents overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana ballot initiative, but the law’s implementation was blocked by Congress. The bill released today — a large omnibus spending bill — lifts the ban on medical marijuana in the nation’s capitol.

The fix will likely be voted into law by the end of the week. This will kick off a lengthy process to enact the ballot initiative passed 10 years ago, a process that enjoys massive support among D.C. residents. By the summer of 2010, D.C. could join the 13 medical marijuana states in protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest.