( CNN ) -- The District of Columbia 's City Council tentatively approved legislation Tuesday that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana in the nation 's capital . It 's about time . Currently , someone caught possessing marijuana in D.C. faces a year in jail and a $ 1,000 fine . That would change if the measure becomes law , making it OK to possess small amounts of pot in the District and reducing the punishment for use in public . Approved 11-1 this week , the bill will get another vote and then would need the signature of Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray . But activists here think the Council is moving too slowly . They 've filed language for a ballot initiative legalizing possession of 2 ounces of marijuana for adults . If the Council does n't expand the scope of the reform in the current legislation to their satisfaction , activists will put the question to the voters in November . It 's a near certainty the legalization measure will pass if it reaches the ballot . So why should the rest of the country care what happens with D.C. 's marijuana laws ? The last time the District adopted a law that ran contrary to the federal government 's absolute marijuana prohibition ( a medical marijuana law in 1998 ) , Republican leaders in Congress responded by blocking it . They heartlessly denied seriously ill people with cancer and AIDS the opportunity to use or access medical marijuana for over a decade . In 2009 , I worked with the original author of the law banning implementation , former Republican Georgia Rep. Bob Barr , and together we lobbied his former colleagues to undo the damage he had done . That fall , Congress removed the ban on the District 's medical marijuana law , and the city government slowly made conforming regulations and brought the program online . Socially conservative Republicans , often enabled by Democrats too afraid to speak their real opinions about marijuana laws , generally serve as a good indicator of the expected national response to evolving drug policies . Times sure have changed . Instead of moving to block final implementation of D.C. 's medical marijuana law last year , opponents in Congress were silent . The first legal sale of marijuana to an HIV-positive man in June occurred without warnings that the sky would fall as a result . Six months later in Colorado , the first legal sales to adults started and , again , no claims that the planet will spin off its axis . Up in smoke : The Obama administration 's pot politics problem . In fact , if you peeked into a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday called by Republican leadership to address the administration 's `` mixed messages '' on marijuana policy , you would have found the most productive debate on marijuana policy that I 've seen in more than a decade of working on this issue . Michael Botticelli , the deputy director of the White House 's drug control office , even acknowledged under oath that he was not aware of a single overdose death from marijuana -- ever . The senior Republican who called the hearing , Rep. John Mica , was cordial to his Democratic colleagues , one of whom alluded to Grover Norquist 's support for allowing states to decide their own policies and call for fair treatment of businesses involved in the legal marijuana trade . Now the attacks are coming from outside the government . Some cynical drug warriors who have now left government service have figured out an effective , albeit untruthful and sensationalist , tactic to fight marijuana reform : comparing the legitimate marijuana business community to Big Tobacco , which notoriously and villainously lied to the American public for decades . They are led by former Rep. Patrick Kennedy , D-Rhode Island , who attacked President Barack Obama 's recent comments about marijuana , even questioning the president 's comments about disparate enforcement of marijuana laws on people of color . That a former congressman , part of an American political dynasty who has enjoyed incredible wealth and privilege his entire life -- who got a ride home from the police in D.C. after crashing his car into a police barricade after taking medication , instead of getting shot or imprisoned -- would lecture the President on the nature of disparate racial enforcement around drug laws is outrageously ironic . Regulating and taxing the sale of marijuana requires that someone grow , process and sell it . Voters in Colorado and Washington clearly said they would rather see upstanding business owners -- not cartels -- running those businesses . Kennedy and his ilk misunderstand the role of entrepreneurs , like the ones I work with , who are active in marijuana dispensaries and ancillary businesses . Big Marijuana ? The overwhelming majority of most clients are small businesses or individual consumers . Does that sound like an evil shady Big Tobacco-type corporation that Kennedy warns of ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Aaron Houston .
City Council voted to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana . Aaron Houston says it 's about time the city took that step . D.C. 's move is part of a nationwide trend to make marijuana legal , he says .