{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://norton.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/norton-other-members-to-hold-a-bipartisan-press-conference-on-marijuana", "Norton, Other Members to Hold a Bipartisan Press Conference on Marijuana Legalization, Thursday", "2014-11-12", "2014", "2014-11", "Democrat", "House", "DC", "Eleanor Norton", "N000147", "norton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced that Norton and other Members of Congress whose states have legalized or relaxed restrictions on marijuana and who support the District of Columbia\u2019s right to legalize marijuana will host a press conference on how Congress should respond to local and state marijuana legalization nationwide, tomorrow, Thursday November 13, at 11:00 a.m. on Capitol Hill, Studio B, House Press Gallery.\u00a0 The other hosts are Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jared Polis (D-CO) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).\u00a0 Norton welcomed their support, all of whom have issues with the treatment of their states\u2019 marijuana laws by Congress, but do whose jurisdictions do not face the possibility of congressional meddling like the District.\n\u201cI am pleased to stand with my colleagues in a bipartisan response to threats we are already receiving to overturn the will of District of Columbia voters,\u201d Norton said.\u00a0 \u201cRecent polling shows that 54 percent of people nationwide support marijuana legalization.\u00a0 The D.C. marijuana legalization ballot initiative, approved by two-thirds of voters, is in line with the majority of Americans.\u00a0 Even when opinions differ on the underlying issue of marijuana legalization, there is no debate that local laws in this country are for local jurisdictions.\u201d\nOne Member of the House of Representatives, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), has said he will try to overturn D.C.\u2019s marijuana legalization initiative, but Norton said that current polls signal that Harris, whose state has decriminalized marijuana, is not where the American people are.\u00a0 The District may also have support in the Senate from the 18 states that decriminalized and the 4 states that legalized marijuana, as well as support from Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), who recently said that D.C. voters alone, not Congress, should decide whether to legalize marijuana.\u00a0\nThe Statement of Administration Policy on the House\u2019s fiscal year 2015 D.C. Appropriations bill said the administration \u201cstrongly opposes\u201d the bill\u2019s prohibition on the District spending its own local funds to implement its local marijuana policies because it violates the \u201cprinciple of States\u2019 rights and of District home rule.\u201d\nOn November 4, Alaska, the District of Columbia, and Oregon all passed ballot initiatives legalizing the adult, recreational use of marijuana.\u00a0 Twenty-three states have legalized medical marijuana, 18 states have decriminalized marijuana, and four states have legalized marijuana.\u00a0 A February 2014 Pew Research Center poll found that 54% of Americans support marijuana legalization.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://norton.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/norton-other-members-to-hold-a-bipartisan-press-conference-on-marijuana"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.814508181065321, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}