D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser has until Halloween to sign Bill 25-581 introduced by councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and Chairman Phil Mendelson back in 2023. The bill addresses serious concerns from unlicensed cannabis shop enforcement, legal medical cannabis shop location distant from daycares and hard deadlines to open for “gifting” shops that transitioned to the legal market.
The bill is another attempt by the D.C. council to address the shortcomings of the original legislation for medical cannabis expansion in 2022. Since the legal market expanded, including almost half a dozen licensing periods for new businesses, many issues have come up in from the licensing process to how to shut down D.C.’s gray market.
If the mayor signs the bill into effect, it will still have a 30 day waiting period where Congress can intercede before it becomes law.
The major changes in legislation that this bill would cement are as follows:
Daycare centers will now be able to protest cannabis dispensaries.
The distance between preschools, schools and recreation centers and dispensaries will increase to 400ft. However, applicants that applied before Sept. 17, 2024 will be grandfathered in at their locations.
All unlicensed shops that chose to transition to the legal market will have to be open by Mar. 31, 2025 or lose their license.
All unlicensed activity must cease once an unlicensed applicant has its license issued by ABCA.
The bill also increases The Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration enforcement powers by allowing the padlocking of a store without a hearing if the unlicensed store “imminent danger to the health or safety of the public,” according to the bill’s text.
Fred Moosally, the director of ABCA, said in an October panel with Councilmenber Charles Allen that this bill will help close “loopholes” in enforcement. “The recent legislation that council passed is going to help us close establishments,” Moosally said.
The council defined imminent danger to the public as the following:
Distributing or attempting to distribute cannabis or a cannabis product to one or more persons under the age of 21.
The unlicensed establishment manufactures, produces or cultivates cannabis or cannabis products at the building or premises.
Distributing or attempting to distribute or make available for sale or exchange untested cannabis or a cannabis product.
Distributes, attempts to distribute or makes available for sale or exchange cannabis or a cannabis product that fails to contain a label identifying the source of the cannabis or cannabis product, including where it was manufactured, the contents of the package, and the cannabis or cannabis product’s ingredients and THC content.
The unlicensed establishment fails to comply with a cease and desist order.
The unlicensed establishment distributes, or attempts to distribute or makes available for sale of exchange Schedule I substances or products that contain Schedule I substances.
An employee, agent or owner of the unlicensed establishment has unlawful firearms or weapons on the premises.
A dangerous crime, as defined in D.C. Code § 23–1331(3) or a crime of violence, as defined in D.C. Code § 23–1331(4), was committed on the premises of the unlicensed establishment.
The unlicensed establishment engages in any activity or operation established as an imminent danger to the health or safety of the public by the ABC Board by rule.
