One day after he spoke with local news reporters, Washington, D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III spoke with WAMU, the American University Radio. During their ‘Politics Hour’ show, hosts Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood spoke with Police Chief Contee for roughly an hour. They discussed cannabis, staffing shortages, and Covid-19 before taking listener questions.  

Chief Contee’s Response

When asked about legal cannabis for the city, which voters approved in 2014 but have been held back by a federal rider, Chief Contee spoke frankly. 

“When you talk about the illegal marijuana sales that we see in our city, we have several shootings, several homicides in our city that are directly linked to the illegal marijuana trade. And, I mean, I’ll say this as plainly as I can so that people understand what’s happening here. There are communities, I can think of several in ward 8, who there are individuals who actively engage in the sale of marijuana, right.

“And in those communities with people selling marijuana, the marijuana sellers, they (unintelligible) people to rob them. So that oftentimes — it certainly has the people who are selling the drugs to be armed, right. But people that rob them, people who are, you know, having bad interactions with people who are selling them. But the point is that there is a very low risk of anybody being held accountable for marijuana sales. There is not an appetite in this city. That’s a fact. There’s not an appetite in this city to prosecute unlawful or illegal possession of marijuana, possession with intent to distribute, even small amounts of marijuana.”

Crime Data

Shortly before Chief Contee spoke with ‘Politics Hour’ hosts about cannabis, Washington’s Police Department released statistics about crime, comparing 2020 to 2021 year-to-date. So far this year, robbery has increased by three percent and homicides have gone up by five percent. However, for homicides, the overall lethality of gunshot wounds has gone up, but there have been less shootings overall. Additionally, total violent crime has decreased by one percent. 

Police Chief Contee spoke about illegal cannabis sales and their connection to violence. But violence in the district remains relatively the same from 2020 to 2021. 

Future

In contrast, according to Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D, if sales become legal, then violence could decrease. However, for sales to become legal, the US Congress would need to remove the rider restricting legal cannabis sales in Washington. The rider specifies the district can’t use federal funds to create its own cannabis industry. Only a few years ago, voters approved both medical and recreational cannabis, in 2013 and 2014 respectively. 

Recently, the U.S. House passed an appropriations spending bill which removed the rider prohibiting a legal cannabis industry in the nation’s capital. However, the Senate has yet to create its own appropriations spending bill, let alone include the rider on prohibition. 

There’s a chance Washington could see a legal cannabis market in the district soon. It depends on if the Senate removes the rider as well. As more information becomes available, we will update you with the latest.

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.