Terrence White, Founder/CEO of Monko, a luxurious hashish revel in in Washington, D.C.Mario Mineros
But a possible answer lies inside achieve: a strong hashish marketplace, constrained by means of the Harris Rider since 2014. This congressional measure bars D.C. from taxing leisure gross sales, proscribing it to $2.3 million in clinical hashish gross sales taxes in fiscal yr 2023, in line with the town’s Alcohol Beverage and Hashish Management. In the meantime, Maryland generated $63 million from its first leisure yr, in line with the state’s comptroller.
It’s time for lawmakers to repeal the rider, release D.C.’s marketplace, and allow the district to chart its monetary path.
The Harris Rider, named for U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., stays a decade-long impediment to self-determination. After 65% of D.C. electorate recommended legalization by way of Initiative 71 in 2014, Congress imposed this funds modification in 2015, prohibiting the district from taxing and regulating leisure hashish gross sales.
In contrast, Maryland’s marketplace now exceeds $1.1 billion in annual gross sales, strengthened by means of leisure income that D.C. can’t faucet. Two entities—Harris and an acquiescent Congress—uphold this restriction, maintaining a grey marketplace of “gifting” loopholes whilst Maryland’s tax haul highlights D.C.’s untapped possible. With 70% of American citizens favoring legalization, in line with a 2023 Gallup ballot, and D.C.’s affected person rolls emerging 21% in two years, public reinforce is obvious. Why, then, does Congress persist in thwarting it?
Federal overreach no longer handiest curbs autonomy but additionally jeopardizes D.C.’s fiscal steadiness. Maryland’s $63 million in first-year leisure taxes—drawn from $700 million in leisure gross sales—demonstrates what’s achievable. D.C.’s $2.3 million from a restricted clinical program pales towards a $1 billion income shortfall, worsened by means of federal activity cuts and a slowing financial system.
Additionally, advertising and marketing restrictions—bans on billboards and e-commerce—stifle operators, at the same time as alcohol promotions flourish unchecked. This contradiction undermines free-market ideas. Congress may just bolster D.C.’s financial capability by means of lifting the rider, but it clings to a coverage that defies fiscal good judgment.
Consider D.C. unencumbered. A hashish czar may just form coverage, aligning regulators with citizens sidelined by means of federal interference. A district-run hashish campus, supplied with turnkey amenities and educational partnerships, may just beef up provide and create sustainable jobs, countering the rider’s limits. Tax income from a leisure marketplace may just lend a hand fund the $400 million inexpensive housing initiative championed by means of Mayor Muriel Bowser, along reinforce for communities—disproportionately Black and deficient—scarred by means of many years of drug-war insurance policies as soon as subsidized by means of Congress.
Maryland’s $1.1 billion in gross sales and over $100 million in taxes by means of mid-2025 confirm the feasibility; D.C. may just fit this with freedom. That is about fiscal resilience and fairness, obstructed by means of two Capitol Hill decision-makers.
D.C.’s financial plight displays a federal failure. The mayor’s workplace has but to totally press this situation because the rider faces scrutiny—most likely cautious of congressional pushback—however the main duty rests at the Hill. Harris and his allies constrain a town they will have to no longer govern, denying sources to handle the cheap strained by means of their team of workers discounts. Housing objectives weaken, fairness stalls, and a $1 billion shortfall looms—all whilst Bowser’s imaginative and prescient, together with a 175-acre RFK redevelopment and the Commanders’ possible go back, calls for public funding.
Maryland’s hashish income prospers simply subsequent door, but Congress may just act in FY 2026 negotiations now underway. A decade of inactivity suggests inertia—except power builds.
D.C.’s long run hinges on a completely discovered hashish business, no longer a stunted grey marketplace. A leisure marketplace free of federal limitations may just mend fiscal wounds and raise underserved populations, strengthened by means of 20 million annual guests—a tourism base in danger as federal insurance policies shift underneath a brand new management.
The rider deprives D.C. of income Maryland proves doable, undermining free-market values and native governance. Lawmakers face a decision: maintain Harris’ old-fashioned restriction and watch D.C. falter, or repeal it and gas enlargement—housing secured, fairness complicated, and transformative initiatives like RFK discovered. Extend squanders the instant, with $1 billion and D.C.’s energy at stake. It’s time to repeal the rider, unharness D.C.’s marketplace, and let income—and autonomy—flourish.
Terrence White, Founder/CEO of Monko, is a hashish and coverage visionary. Founding Monko, a luxurious hashish revel in in Washington, D.C., he blends excellence with social justice. A returned citizen, he advocates for fairness and redefines hashish within the capital.
Terrence White, Founder/CEO of Monko, a luxurious hashish revel in in Washington, D.C.Mario Mineros
But a possible answer lies inside achieve: a strong hashish marketplace, constrained by means of the Harris Rider since 2014. This congressional measure bars D.C. from taxing leisure gross sales, proscribing it to $2.3 million in clinical hashish gross sales taxes in fiscal yr 2023, in line with the town’s Alcohol Beverage and Hashish Management. In the meantime, Maryland generated $63 million from its first leisure yr, in line with the state’s comptroller.
It’s time for lawmakers to repeal the rider, release D.C.’s marketplace, and allow the district to chart its monetary path.
The Harris Rider, named for U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., stays a decade-long impediment to self-determination. After 65% of D.C. electorate recommended legalization by way of Initiative 71 in 2014, Congress imposed this funds modification in 2015, prohibiting the district from taxing and regulating leisure hashish gross sales.
In contrast, Maryland’s marketplace now exceeds $1.1 billion in annual gross sales, strengthened by means of leisure income that D.C. can’t faucet. Two entities—Harris and an acquiescent Congress—uphold this restriction, maintaining a grey marketplace of “gifting” loopholes whilst Maryland’s tax haul highlights D.C.’s untapped possible. With 70% of American citizens favoring legalization, in line with a 2023 Gallup ballot, and D.C.’s affected person rolls emerging 21% in two years, public reinforce is obvious. Why, then, does Congress persist in thwarting it?
Federal overreach no longer handiest curbs autonomy but additionally jeopardizes D.C.’s fiscal steadiness. Maryland’s $63 million in first-year leisure taxes—drawn from $700 million in leisure gross sales—demonstrates what’s achievable. D.C.’s $2.3 million from a restricted clinical program pales towards a $1 billion income shortfall, worsened by means of federal activity cuts and a slowing financial system.
Additionally, advertising and marketing restrictions—bans on billboards and e-commerce—stifle operators, at the same time as alcohol promotions flourish unchecked. This contradiction undermines free-market ideas. Congress may just bolster D.C.’s financial capability by means of lifting the rider, but it clings to a coverage that defies fiscal good judgment.
Consider D.C. unencumbered. A hashish czar may just form coverage, aligning regulators with citizens sidelined by means of federal interference. A district-run hashish campus, supplied with turnkey amenities and educational partnerships, may just beef up provide and create sustainable jobs, countering the rider’s limits. Tax income from a leisure marketplace may just lend a hand fund the $400 million inexpensive housing initiative championed by means of Mayor Muriel Bowser, along reinforce for communities—disproportionately Black and deficient—scarred by means of many years of drug-war insurance policies as soon as subsidized by means of Congress.
Maryland’s $1.1 billion in gross sales and over $100 million in taxes by means of mid-2025 confirm the feasibility; D.C. may just fit this with freedom. That is about fiscal resilience and fairness, obstructed by means of two Capitol Hill decision-makers.
D.C.’s financial plight displays a federal failure. The mayor’s workplace has but to totally press this situation because the rider faces scrutiny—most likely cautious of congressional pushback—however the main duty rests at the Hill. Harris and his allies constrain a town they will have to no longer govern, denying sources to handle the cheap strained by means of their team of workers discounts. Housing objectives weaken, fairness stalls, and a $1 billion shortfall looms—all whilst Bowser’s imaginative and prescient, together with a 175-acre RFK redevelopment and the Commanders’ possible go back, calls for public funding.
Maryland’s hashish income prospers simply subsequent door, but Congress may just act in FY 2026 negotiations now underway. A decade of inactivity suggests inertia—except power builds.
D.C.’s long run hinges on a completely discovered hashish business, no longer a stunted grey marketplace. A leisure marketplace free of federal limitations may just mend fiscal wounds and raise underserved populations, strengthened by means of 20 million annual guests—a tourism base in danger as federal insurance policies shift underneath a brand new management.
The rider deprives D.C. of income Maryland proves doable, undermining free-market values and native governance. Lawmakers face a decision: maintain Harris’ old-fashioned restriction and watch D.C. falter, or repeal it and gas enlargement—housing secured, fairness complicated, and transformative initiatives like RFK discovered. Extend squanders the instant, with $1 billion and D.C.’s energy at stake. It’s time to repeal the rider, unharness D.C.’s marketplace, and let income—and autonomy—flourish.
Terrence White, Founder/CEO of Monko, is a hashish and coverage visionary. Founding Monko, a luxurious hashish revel in in Washington, D.C., he blends excellence with social justice. A returned citizen, he advocates for fairness and redefines hashish within the capital.
