The District of Columbia will move forward with its plan to legalize marijuana, despite disapproval from Congress.
The law will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, according to Mayor Muriel Bowser. “D.C. residents spoke loud and clear,” she said at an event on Tuesday with the City Council.
Voters in D.C. approved a marijuana legalization initiative in November, but because the District isn’t a state, it’s subject to special oversight by Congress (which decided to rain on the parade, of course).
Congress passed a spending bill in December that forbids D.C. officials from using federal funds to implement marijuana legalization. That’s blocked the city from creating a regulatory framework for legal pot sales, but, according to Mayor Bowser, it doesn’t stop the District from enacting legalization.
Once the law takes effect, District residents age 21 or older will be allowed to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and grow up to six plants, but not consume the drug in public. City officials describe the program as “home use and home grow,” according to Martin Austermuhle, a reporter for WAMU 88.5 FM.