Washington, D.C. isn’t quite the laissez-faire marijuana financial capital that Colorado is—but it’s inching closer. On Monday, D.C. Mayor Vince Gray signed a bill decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of pot in the nation’s capital. Possession of up to one ounce of marijuana will now be slapped with a $25 fine while, previously, Reuters reports, “possession had been a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.”
The D.C. city council passed the decriminalization measure overwhelmingly earlier this month joining 16 other states that have softened their stance on marijuana. According to WAMU, NPR’s Washington, D.C. affiliate, “support for the measure built after a 2013 report by the ACLU found that D.C. leads the nation in marijuana arrests, and that black residents are eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than their white counterparts.”
Despite the approval of D.C.’s elected officials, the bill still faces a 60-day congressional review before going on the books. WAMU reports that D.C. laws are rarely blocked by Congress, but a medical marijuana ballot initiative was rejected in 1998. If the bill passes the congressional hurdle it will be implemented “by the summer,” according to WAMU.
