"DC legalizes marijuana despite threats from Congress"

Jurist has this story:

The District of Columbia (DC) [official website] on Thursday disregarded pressures from Congress and went forward with legalizing possession of marijuana after a voter-approved initiative. Notwithstanding warnings of repercussions by leaders in Congress, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser [official website] affirmed that marijuana would be legalized as approved [text] by nearly two-thirds of voters [website] in November. Although Congress appeared to block the initiative in December, District leaders claim the legislation was enacted before, and is thus unaffected, even though it did not come into effect until Thursday. Although it is unlikely that the Department of Justice would enforce the penalties of jail time for District officials for complying with the newly enacted laws, as they are in opposition with federal legislation, Congress could sue the city over its actions.