[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15670]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     D.C. ASKS CONGRESS TO RESPECT THEIR LOCAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, thank you to the two Democratic 
Representatives, Blumenauer and Polis, and Republican Representative 
Rohrabacher who stood with the District of Columbia for letting our 
marijuana reform bill stand today.
  Although Blacks and Whites smoke pot at the same rate, the majority 
of those convicted of possession of small amounts in the District of 
Columbia and nationwide are Black. Your State may not be counted among 
the 58 percent of Americans who want cannabis legalized. D.C. doesn't 
ask you to support marijuana. D.C. asks only that the Congress respect 
our local marijuana initiative, which is every bit as much a local 
control matter as the decision made by four other States on this very 
same issue.

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