D.C. Won't Go Forward With Marijuana Regulations

Officials in the District of Columbia won't go forward with plans to develop a scheme for regulating and taxing newly legalized marijuana in the nation's capital.  That's according to reports in the Washington Post.

Council members had planned a series of hearings with experts from around the country, but an opinion by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said that doing so might well put District leaders in jeopardy of punishment (including jail time) under the federal Anti-Deficiency Act.  (The Act prohibits persons from spending appropriated funds on things that Congress has prohibited.) 

General Racine's opinion conflicts with one earlier given to the Council by its own general counsel, David Zvenyach.  At issue is the language from section 809 of last year's Cromnibus funding bill, which provides:

    (a) None of the Federal funds contained in this Act may be used to enact or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative.

    (b) None of the funds contained in this Act may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative for recreational purposes.

The question is whether introducing bills, holding and preparing the regulations count as part of the "enactment" process (as General Racine suggests) or whether the prohibition is only on the final "enactment" itself,  not on the preliminaries (as Mr. Zvenyach argues).

It's a nice little question of statutory interpretation, but if the penalty for being wrong was two years in jail, I'd probably be conservative and adopt the A.G.'s view.  So I'm not surprised that the Council has decided to back off.