Norton Releases Remarks from Press Conference to Defend D.C. Marijuana Laws

The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released Norton's remarks following her press conference at 3:30 p.m. today to respond to press reports that the fiscal year 2015 Omnibus Appropriations bill may block the District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Sam Farr (D-CA), and Jared Polis (D-CO) also made remarks at the press conference.

Norton's remarks as prepared for delivery follow:

"I am not here to speak about rumors that I hope are not true. Despite media reports that the omnibus may block D.C. from legalizing marijuana, I am told that negotiations on the bill are ongoing, and we are still fighting and talking to the relevant leaders to do all we can to protect D.C.'s marijuana legalization law, Initiative 71, which was approved by 70 percent of D.C. voters in November.

I continue to speak with House and Senate Democratic leaders and the White House about Republican efforts to interfere with D.C.'s local laws, although most of our leaders are not in the negotiations and have seen no language. I do know Democratic leaders have been pushing back against Republican attempts to take down the D.C. ballot initiative and even to wipe out marijuana decriminalization.

I would be at a loss to explain why Democrats would agree to block D.C. marijuana legalization on their watch -- we control the White House and the Senate and House Democratic votes may be needed to pass the omnibus. Republicans will control Congress in less than a month. I don't know why Democrats would give them a head start in interfering with the District's local laws.

Among the issues I have emphasized in my discussions with the leaders, none have been more important than the necessity of legalization to combat racial injustice. I am a co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys, and the findings of two independent studies showing racial disparities in the enforcement of marijuana laws are very hard to live with -- Blacks in D.C. are eight times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than non-Blacks, and 91 percent of all marijuana arrests are of Blacks, even though Whites and Blacks in D.C. use marijuana at the same rates. If the city can do something about the stigmatization of Blacks, particularly a "drug conviction" for possession of small amounts of marijuana, it must do it. Otherwise, D.C. itself would be complicit in the unemployment and underemployment that we know is the fate of African Americans who carry marijuana convictions. Legalization can make a dent in this racial injustice.

Some may be ready to give up on legalization on the basis of press reports. I cannot afford that kind of defeatism."

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