DC Mayor Proposes Recreational Bill

A federal budget provision, however, bars the city from enacting marijuana legislation.

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The mayor of Washington, D.C., has proposed a bill to locally legalize the sale and distribution of recreational marijuana, despite a federal budget provision barring the city from enacting marijuana legislation.

The Washington Post reports Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced the legislation Thursday. A 2014 law allows District residents to grow and possess marijuana, but doesn't purchases of the drug.

The "Safe Cannabis Sales Act" would task the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration with regulating marijuana businesses and impose a 17% sales tax that would go toward the act's enforcement and affordable housing.

Attorney General Karl A. Racine says local officials can legally discuss the legislation, a flip from his take in 2015. District lawmakers say they may not vote on the bill's final passage until Congress removes the prohibiting provision.

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