The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday reversed a lower court ruling that had placed medical marijuana initiative back on the ballot.

The appeals court ruled "Congress had the right to block District of Columbia residents from voting on whether to legalize marijuana for medical use [because] the Constitution gives Congress exclusive power to define the district's legislative authority."

The Court also ruled that "a congressional act barring D.C. residents from putting the legalization of marijuana on the ballot does not violate their First Amendment right to free speech."

Here's a succinct history of the ballot controversy, and as we pointed out on August 21, it was Congressman Bob Barr who caused it all:

In November 1998, an initiative in the District of Columbia tried to approve medical marijuana. " For almost a year no one knew whether the referendum had passed, because Rep. Bob Barr (R., Ga.) impounded the $ 1.65 it would have cost to tally the vote. Finally, last September, the courts overruled Barr. Seven out of ten D.C. voters had decided in favor of legalization. Refusing defeat, Barr pushed a bill through Congress that blocked the spending needed to enact the new law. As fallback, Barr has also proposed a joint resolution of Congress to simply overturn by fiat the will of the people expressed freely and fairly at the ballot box. " (Harper's Magazine December 1, 1999, available on Lexis.)

The Marijuana Policy Project sued the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics charging the law Barr pushed through Congress was unconsitutional. The D.C. Court agreed. But today, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed.