Washington, D.C. has made changes to the expiration of medical cannabis cards, as well as increased possession limits for medical cannabis patients.

City leaders in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday extended a lifeline to the district’s beleaguered medical cannabis dispensaries. 

The D.C. Council gave unanimous approval to an emergency bill that will allow medical cannabis patients “whose cards expired since Mar. 2020 to continue using them to purchase medical marijuana through the end of Jan. 2022,” the website DCist reported, while additionally creating “a new two-year medical marijuana card (instead of the current one-year card), and increases the amount of marijuana a patient can buy at a time to eight ounces, up from four.”

In response to a request from the Domestic Policy Office in the White House, the National Hemp Association released an economic impact report titled, “Building the Sustainable Hemp Industry in the United States.” 

The report was presented to the White House last week and outlines a pathway to establish a new sustainable economy around hemp fiber and grain with a projected $32B impact by 2030.

In comments submitted to Sens. Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, and Ron Wyden on “The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act,” the Cannabis Freedom Alliance applauded the proposed bill because it would accomplish “the overarching goal of legalizing the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and possession of marijuana products at the federal level.”

“The bill takes several important steps toward ending the criminalization of marijuana and the failed war on drugs,” said Adrian Moore, vice president of Reason Foundation, a member of the Cannabis Freedom Alliance’s steering committee. “We’re thankful the Cannabis Freedom Alliance and other groups have been given the opportunity to offer suggestions to improve this important bill.”

“I can tell you that marijuana, undoubtedly, is connected to violent crimes that we’re seeing in our community,” said Robert Contee.

Disclaimer: this article was originallly viewed on The Fresh Toast and the views expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

The District of Columbia is not a state, and a good chunk of the land is federally owned, where cannabis is not legal. D.C. currently sits in a bit of a gray area. Here’s what consumers and operators should know.

I recently relocated to Washington, D.C. to join our East Coast practice group and have been inundated with inquiries surrounding the legal framework of recreational cannabis (i.e., marijuana and hemp) in the nation’s capital. So, in light of this overwhelming interest, I thought I’d briefly summarize this issue for our readers.

Nearly a decade ago, Linda Greene was having dinner with some of her friends when she heard that marijuana had been legalized for medicinal use in Washington, D.C. Having lived through the 1960s counterculture, she saw an opportunity.

Greene opened Anacostia Organics in 2019. The push to open the medicinal marijuana dispensary began after Greene saw that of the 15 original cultivator and dispensary licenses issued by the district’s Department of Health, none had been awarded to residents of the U.S. capital, and only two had been awarded to people of color.

White House staff are being fired for admitting to past marijuana use. The Biden administration has admitted to firing at least five staff members, suspending several others, and placing even more staffers into a remote work program as punishment for previous consumption.

Vice President Kamala Harris has openly joked about her former cannabis use, yet faces no backlash from the administration. 

Despite being known for its liberal policies, Washington, D.C. still doesn’t have a recreational market. But that could be about to change. 

One way to reduce opioid overdose death rates in American communities may be to expand legal access to another, less lethal drug. A study published in January 2021 in the BMJ suggests that U.S. counties that have more cannabis dispensaries also have lower opioid-related deaths.