Melissa Holzberg, a junior majoring in political communication, is The Hatchet’s opinions editor.
In case you missed it, here’s the best and worst news from around campus and the District this week.
Thumbs up:
It may soon be legal for all of us to raise a little higher in D.C. At-large Councilmember David Grosso proposed legislation this week that would change marijuana’s status in D.C. from decriminalized to legalized.
In 2014, the D.C. Council decriminalized marijuana use by changing the consequences of being caught with certain amounts of the drug. Under the decriminalization change, the Metro Police Department cannot arrest a person for minor possession of marijuana. Rather, as of now, minor possession is handled with a fine and repossession of the drugs. But given that federal marijuana laws have not changed, federal agencies can still make arrests for possessing any amount of marijuana.
Grosso’s proposed legislation would make it legal for an adult to buy, use and sell marijuana – while introducing a tax structure for the drug in D.C. Grosso previously introduced this legislation last year, but it was blocked by Congress. It’s unclear how much further the bill will go in this time.
While the University’s policy on marijuana has not changed despite the drug’s decriminalization, if this legislation passes, it’s possible GW’s policy would be forced to shift. This bill is similar to state bills that have passed in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.
With some “pot protests” planned for Inauguration Day next week, we’ll have to wait and see how legal marijuana becomes in the nation’s capital.
Thumbs down:
If you were hoping to travel to a few Super Bowl parties outside Foggy Bottom, you might want to check the bus schedule. WMATA released the dates of upcoming major Metro closings, and one of the biggest is planned for Super Bowl weekend.
According to WMATA’s release, six stations with service on the blue, orange and silver lines will be closed over the weekend of Feb. 4 and Feb. 5. And while students have dealt with Metro’s updates and construction projects for a year now with SafeTrack, it’s frustrating that officials picked such a busy weekend to complete maintenance on trains.
Of course, there’s no good time for Metro officials to do work that requires shutting down stations. And it’s better for this work to be done over the weekend rather than upend people’s schedules during the week. But after dealing with train derailments, smoke-filled stations and endless delays from construction projects, it’s no wonder that people are frustrated that the Metro system isn’t perfect.
While buses will be running between stations that are closed for construction, let’s all hope for an easy weather weekend that won’t further change travel plans for those of us trying to watch the big game from the comfort of our favorite D.C. spots.
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