Republicans threaten D.C. mayor with prison if she legalizes pot


House Republicans are not happy with Muriel E. Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., who is moving ahead with a plan to legalize marijuana in the capital, a move that was approved by voters in a November referendum.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) told The Washington Post there would be consequences:
He said that if Bowser and city officials are "under any illusion that this would be legal, they are wrong. And there are very severe consequences for violating this provision. You can go to prison for this. We're not playing a little game here." [The Washington Post]
The dispute arises from D.C.'s unique (some would say undemocratic) governance structure, in which residents' tax dollars are overseen by Congress.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
-
AI hallucinations are getting worse
In the Spotlight And no one knows why it is happening
-
Social media: How ‘content’ replaced friendship
Feature Facebook has shifted from connecting with friends to competing with entertainment companies
-
The Alien Enemies Act
Feature President Trump is using a long-dormant law to deport Venezuelans. How does it work?
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suit
Speed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law