Residents of Washington, D.C. began early voting on October 25. One of the choices on their ballots is whether to approve Initiative 71. The ballot initiative would legalize marijuana for recreational use. With less than a week left to vote, however, the city isn’t waiting for the results to begin planning the next step.

The D.C. City Council held a hearing Thursday on the taxation and regulation of marijuana in the District. Unlike Colorado and Washington — states that legalized recreational marijuana sales in 2012 — District voters cannot use a ballot initiative to regulate and tax marijuana. Initiative 71 would decriminalize the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and allow for cultivation of up to six plants, but sale would still be illegal. Regulation and taxation of the industry, valued by District financial officials at $130 million a year, is up to the Council.

“If the referendum passes on Tuesday, which I hope it does, the council will be in the position of having to set up a regulatory framework and taxing it will be part of that framework,” said D.C. Council member Jack Evans, a Democrat, who also oversaw Thursday’s hearing on the bill. [The Washington Times]

“When I introduced the Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Act in September of 2013, none of my colleagues were willing to be co-introducers [sic] or co-sponsors,” Council member David Grasso said at the hearing. Times have changed with council members now supporting marijuana legalization. The 2014 Legalization and Regulation Act proposes a 6 percent sales tax on medical marijuana and a 15 percent sales tax on marijuana “for all other purposes.” That 15 percent would bring in $19.5 million a year.

The $130-million valuation came from the District’s Director of Financial …read more

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Source:: Weed Feed