Legal Weed Is Expected to Pass in D.C.—How Many Ways Can Congress Interfere?

On Tuesday, voters in the nation's capital will consider a ballot measure that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana within city limits. Initiative No. 71 is expected to pass by a healthy margin. The vote is significant, not only because it would add D.C. to a growing list of American cities and states where people can light up without threat of criminal prosecution, but also because it would allow smokers to enjoy the sticky icky essentially under the noses of federal law enforcement agencies.

District stoners may need to wait to blaze in glory, however. The path to legalization includes a number of potential stumbling blocks. Some are similar to issues that arose in places where marijuana is now legal, like Colorado and Washington—questions about who can grow it, who can sell it, and how much money everyone involved will have to kick up to the tax man.

The D.C. measure would make it legal for a person 21 or older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use and to grow up to six cannabis plants. It would also allow people and businesses to sell paraphernalia and growing supplies, but not the drug itself. D.C. City Council members have already said they expect to take at least another year to roll out a system to tax and regulate what’s expected to be a $130 million a year recreational marijuana market. They’re likely to take a hard look at the implementation efforts in Washington and Colorado, where it took state authorities more than a year to establish a regulated weed market after voters moved to lift the ban on recreational cannabis in November 2012. (District lawmakers aren’t the only ones: voters in Oregon and Alaska will also decide this week whether to legalize pot.)