D.C. medical marijuana program on course for spring launch
More than 13 years after nearly 70%
of D.C. residents voted to allow seriously ill District residents to have safe,
legal access to medical marijuana, the long wait for patients in our
nation’s capital will soon come to an end. According to its website, the District’s
Department of Health hopes to award registrations to prospective cultivation
center and dispensary operators by the end of March 2012. You can view a list of applicants here.
While it’s exciting to know that the
program will be fully implemented soon, it’s important to remember that
patients cannot legally possess marijuana unless it was purchased from a
dispensary, and since none have opened, it’s
still illegal for anyone, including patients, to possess or use marijuana in
the District, even if they have doctors’ recommendations.
If you are a patient who might benefit from the medical use of marijuana, you
should first talk to your doctor. You will need to obtain the necessary
paperwork from the Department of Health, and your doctor will need to sign a
form certifying your qualification for the program. Please note that only
patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and glaucoma qualify as of
this time, though we will work to broaden the list of qualifying conditions. If you are interested in applying to
operate one of the five dispensaries or 10 cultivation centers that will be
licensed to grow and dispense marijuana, please contact the Department of
Health’s Health Regulation and
Licensing Administration.
In the meantime, if you’d like to share your story or see how you can help us
in improving the District’s medical marijuana program, send us an email. You can also subscribe to our email
alerts to stay up to date on all the latest
news on medical marijuana in D.C.
D.C. Marijuana Laws (non-medical)
Did you know that the arrest rate
for blacks in D.C. is over eight times that of whites?! Possession of any
amount of marijuana — even as little as a single gram — is punishable by up to
six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. Despite tough laws and even
tougher enforcement, the use rate for marijuana in D.C. is the third highest in
the country, and it’s growing — suggesting marijuana prohibition has been more
effective in destroying families and widening racial divides than in preventing
marijuana use.
It’s time for a new approach. Write your elected officials and urge them to
decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. For
more on the negative consequences of the District’s harsh marijuana laws,
including arrest and enforcement trends, check out this excellent report from Jon Gettman, Ph.D.
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