Last week, the House of Representatives at long last voted to kill the Barr Amendment---a rider banning D.C.'s implementation of a medical marijuana initiative passed in 1998. It was originally sponsored by Georgia congressman Bob Barr and has been attached to the annual District budget for a decade.

LL covered the possible arrival of medical marijuana here in his column a couple of weeks back (a column that was widely read for other reasons). LL had tried to get in touch with Barr, now a libertarian political activist and presidential candidate, for the story, but didn't connect with him in time.

But now, via a Libertarian Party press release, we have his feelings on the matter.

Read More "Bob Barr Lauds Demise of Barr Amendment" »

A measure to once again ban D.C. from implementing a 1998 medical marijuana initiative failed in a House appropriations committee vote this evening.

The D.C. budget made it out of its appropriations subcommittee without the so-called Barr amendment---a rider, first introduced by Georgia Republican Bob Barr, which has graced the District budget since 1998. But this evening Missouri Republican Jo Ann Emerson attempted to put it back on.

After a short debate, with Jim Moran (D-Va.) standing up to defend District home rule, the Emerson measure failed by a voice vote. The bill still has to survive the House floor, Senate consideration, and conference committee.

Presently, the committee is debating an amendment that would preserve the rider banning the District from funding abortions. It's unclear whether an amendment regarding the District's gun laws will come up this evening.

UPDATE, 10:05 P.M.: The abortion amendment has failed, 26-33. If the bill as passed out of committee is made law, the District will be free to spend local funds on abortion.

This weekend, Marion Barry engaged in some rather questionable behavior. The councilmember allegedly snuck into his ex-girlfriend's house and later found and/or followed her in his car and was arrested on stalking charges. He had also allegedly locked her out of his hotel room in Denver during the Democratic Convention and canceled her return flight to D.C. The two apparently weren't soul mates. All of this behavior is stunning considering that Barry really, really does not like being stalked.

Barry especially doesn't like being stalked by reporters. In fact, he has quite the history of using the police to prevent reporters from following him.

Read More "WCP Reports: Barry Doesn’t Like Being Stalked" »

Today, the various crime bills are being debated as I write this item. You can read the complete and competing bills here. The Post has gathered up the pro and con surrounding the controversial proposal to take gangs or gang members to civil court. The Post writes:

The provision -- drafted by the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) -- would allow authorities to target alleged gang members in civil proceedings. A prosecutor could obtain an injunction barring an alleged gang member from engaging in a range of activities, including such nuisance offenses as harassing passersby on the street.

Loose Lips is liveblogging the big crime bill debate. This afternoon, I talked to a veteran D.C. Police official who has vast experience with drug and gang cases. I wanted to know their thoughts on the crime bills and the civil-court provisions.

They basically thought the crime bill(s) were a waste of time.

Read More "One Veteran Cop on the Crime Bill Grandstanding" »

Via Prince of Petworth: Councilmember Jim Graham couldn't help but speak out on last night's shooting in Mount Pleasant. A teen---apparently a 13-year-old---was shot in the ankle. Graham writes:

"I am told the boy did not live in the immediate area but may live elsewhere in Ward 1.

MPD tells me he will fully recover.

But now we have the allegation that there is a drug house operating at 1833 Monroe that has been reported to MPD. And further than the shots may have come from that vicinity."

A man died Monday morning while receiving treatment for a drug addiction at a District facility.

Sandy Ethridge, 59, was pronounced dead at Prince George's Hospital Center on the morning of Dec. 15. He had been admitted on Dec. 11 to the Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration's detox facility on the D.C. General campus, according to sister Annie Holder.

Ethridge, a resident of Potomac Gardens in Capitol Hill, had been sent to detox under a court order, Holder says; he had been admitted to the facility several times before for treatment of drug and alcohol addictions. On Monday morning, according to an account related to Holder by a detective investigating the death, Ethridge was seen by a fellow patient using a needle and syringe to inject drugs in a facility bathroom. When patients were awakened for breakfast a few hours later, according to the account, he was discovered to be unconscious and unresponsive and was taken to the Maryland hospital.

"I said, 'Well, where did he get [the drugs] from?" Holder says.

An investigation into the cause of death is pending, according to the Maryland medical examiner's office. A call to the investigating detective today was not immediately returned.

If Ethridge was indeed determined to have died from a drug overdose, it raises serious questions about security at the APRA facility, which is charged with providing indigent District residents with inpatient addiction treatment. Facility policies require strictly controlled access to the facility and thorough searches of patients upon admittance.

Dr. Pierre Vigilance, head of the District's health department, declined to comment on the specifics of Ethridge's death. "The passing of any client is unfortunate. We take this situation very seriously, and we are in the process of carefully reviewing this matter. Out of respect for our client's privacy we are unable to provide details of his demise at this time."