Washington D.C. To Let Adults Certify Themselves as Medical Marijuana Patients, Effectively Opening Up The Market

The Washington, D.C. City Council approved a law that allows adults to “self-certify” as a medical cannabis patient without consulting with or receiving recommendation from a doctor. The new rule effectively opens the doors of medical dispensaries to the general population as a workaround to the district’s inability to establish recreational sales.

“This emergency legislation would allow medical marijuana patients 21 years of age and older to self-certify that they are utilizing marijuana for medical purposes,” the resolution reads. “Patients will still be formally registered in the medical marijuana program, issued a patient identification number, and recorded in ABRA’s private and secure Metrc track-and-trace system. While not a panacea to the issues facing our legal marijuana market, this emergency legislation provides a small amount of relief by increasing the ability of medical marijuana patients to access the legal and regulated medical market.”

Sponsored by council members Kenyan McDuffie and Mary Cheh, the new law received unanimous, 13-0 approval. Without statehood, the District of Columbia is subject to Congressional oversight, where a rider has blocked its ability to implement recreational sales despite recreational cannabis legalization in 2014. In its place an elaborate gifting market has sprung up. This new legislation notes that safety standards are much more lax in this gray market, so granting greater access to medical cannabis retail is a major improvement for public health and safety.—Danny Sullivan

Tagged : cannabis, Washington DC medical

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