Washington, D.C. voters pass Initiative 71 by a 70.06% landslide to legalize cannabis possession and home grow

On November 4, 2014, voters in the nation’s capital approved Washington, D.C. Initiative 71 (the Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Initiative) by an overwhelming 70.06% Yes (115,050 votes) to 29.94% No (49,168 votes), winning all eight wards of the District.

What Initiative 71 legalized on February 26, 2015

• Possession limit: Adults 21 and older may legally possess up to 2 ounces (56.7 grams) of cannabis in the District of Columbia (excluding federal land such as the National Mall or Rock Creek Park, where federal law still applies).
• Home cultivation: Adults 21+ may grow up to 6 cannabis plants inside their primary residence (with no more than 3 mature, flowering plants at one time), capped at 12 plants (6 mature) per household if two or more adults live in the home.
• Adult-to-adult gifting: Residents 21+ may transfer (“gift”) up to 1 ounce of cannabis to another adult 21+ so long as no money, goods, or services are exchanged.

Why D.C. ended up with a “gifting” market and self-certified medical dispensaries

Under D.C. Home Rule rules, a citizen ballot initiative cannot appropriate city funds to create a tax-and-regulate agency; the D.C. Council planned to pass a separate retail taxation bill in 2015. However, in December 2014, Congressional Republicans attached a budget rider (the Harris Rider) barring D.C. from spending funds to enact commercial recreational sales. Because the rider blocked new laws rather than the self-executing Initiative 71, possession and home grow took effect on February 26, 2015—and in 2022–2024 D.C. expanded its medical cannabis program to allow adults 21+ (including visitors) to self-certify as medical patients on the spot at licensed D.C. dispensaries.