GOP lawmaker ‘blacklisted’ after blocking DC pot law

Hopefully, Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) wasn’t aiming to get his bike fixed near his office anytime soon.

A Capitol Hill bike shop has put up a sign bearing Harris’s smiling face and the words “Not Welcome” in opposition to Harris’s role in pushing legislation to halt the implementation of marijuana legalization in the District of Columbia.

The sign is from a Tumblr page devoted to helping businesses “blacklist” Harris and his aides, from his chief of staff to his staff assistants. Only his interns appeared to have been spared.

Harris attached a rider to the omnibus spending package passed by the House last week that would block the District from spending money on the implementation of legalization, which voters passed in November by a wide margin. Some have argued that the language of the rider makes it possible that it would not actually stop implementation.

The move was hardly surprising. Harris has become the most outspoken critic in Congress of the deregulation of marijuana — with D.C. as his target.

He has repeatedly said that loosening restrictions on marijuana will increase the rate at which teenagers use the drug.

Over the summer, Harris used another rider to try and block a D.C. measure that would have reduced the severity of penalties for marijuana possession.

He drew a rebuke at the time from District residents. One day in July, they appeared at his office to complain about municipal problems like potholes and cracks in the sidewalk.