(a) Notwithstanding any other District law, a dispensary may possess medical marijuana for the purpose of dispensing the medical marijuana to a qualifying patient or caregiver and may manufacture, purchase, possess, distribute, and use paraphernalia, in accordance with this chapter and the rules issued pursuant to § 7-1671.13.
(b) Notwithstanding any other District law, a cultivation center may cultivate and possess medical marijuana for the purpose of distribution to a dispensary and may manufacture, purchase, possess, and use paraphernalia in accordance with this chapter and the rules issued pursuant to § 7-1671.13.
(b-1) Notwithstanding any other District law, a testing laboratory may possess medical marijuana for the purpose of testing its contents, in accordance with this chapter and the rules issued pursuant to § 7-1671.13.
(c) A dispensary may dispense medical marijuana and distribute paraphernalia to a qualifying patient or the qualifying patient's caregiver, and a qualifying patient or the qualifying patient's caregiver may obtain medical marijuana and paraphernalia from a dispensary, only if the qualifying patient is registered to receive medical marijuana from that dispensary.
(d)(1) Each dispensary, cultivation center, and testing laboratory shall be registered with ABRA prior to manufacturing, cultivating, dispensing, possessing, testing, or distributing medical marijuana, or manufacturing, possessing, using, or distributing paraphernalia.
(2)(A) No more than 5 dispensaries shall be registered to operate in the District; provided, that the Mayor may increase the number to as many as 8 by rulemaking to ensure that qualifying patients have adequate access to medical marijuana; provided further, that no more than 2 dispensaries shall be registered to operate within an election ward established by the Council in § 1-1041.03.
(B) The prohibition of no more than 2 dispensaries being registered to operate within an election ward set forth in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall apply to applications pending as of December 13, 2013.
(C)(i) No more than one dispensary may be registered to operate in any election ward in which 5 or more cultivation centers have been registered to operate.
(ii) The prohibition of no more than one dispensary being registered to operate within an election ward in which 5 or more cultivation centers have been registered to operate set forth in sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph shall apply to applications pending as of December 13, 2013.
(3)(A) The number of cultivation centers and testing laboratories that may be registered to operate in the District shall be determined by the Mayor by rules issued in accordance with § 7-1671.13; provided, that the combined total number of cultivation centers and testing laboratories registered to operate within an election ward established by the Council in § 1-1041.03, shall not exceed 6.
(B) The prohibition of no more than 6 cultivation centers being registered to operate within an election ward set forth in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall apply to applications pending as of Dec. 13, 2013.
(C) Any applicant that submitted an application on July 19, 2015, for a registration to operate a cultivation center shall be allowed to modify the location of the cultivation center on its application without negatively affecting the current status of the application.
(4) The ABC Board may approve the holder of a cultivation center registration that also owns, or has a valid lease for, real property adjacent to its existing cultivation center to physically expand the registered cultivation center into that adjacent real property for the purpose of increasing production of medical marijuana.
(5)(A) An application for registration of a dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory submitted by a medical cannabis certified business enterprise, or applicant eligible to be a medical cannabis certified business enterprise, shall be awarded a preference point equal to 50 points or 20% of the available points, whichever is more.
(B) A medical cannabis certified business enterprise shall:
(i) Have one or more owners who are economically disadvantaged individuals or individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities and who are District residents and individually or collectively own at least 60% of the licensed business enterprise;
(ii) Have one or more owners whose income does not exceed $349,999, who are residents of the District, and whose net worth, excluding the value of their residence, does not exceed $1 million, and individually or collectively own at least 60% of the licensed business enterprise;
(iii) Have a chief executive officer and its highest-level managerial employees perform their managerial functions in a principal office located in the District;
(iv) Have at least 50% of its employees be residents of the District;
(v) Have at least 50% of its contractors be residents of the District; and
(vi) Have at least 80% of the assets of the certified business enterprise, including bank accounts, be in the District.
(C) An applicant seeking to qualify as a medical cannabis certified business enterprise shall submit with the application for registration of a dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory, an affidavit attesting to:
(i) The number of owners of the applicant who are economically disadvantaged individuals or individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities;
(ii) The ownership interest of any owners of the applicant who are economically disadvantaged individuals or individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities;
(iii) The number of employees of the applicant who are economically disadvantaged individuals or individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities; and
(iv) The number of contractors of the applicant who are economically disadvantaged individuals or individuals who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias because of their identity as a member of a group without regard to their individual qualities.
(D) For the purpose of this paragraph, the term:
(i) "Economically disadvantaged individual" shall have the same meaning as set forth in § 2-218.02(7).
(ii) "Medical cannabis certified business enterprise" means a certified business enterprise, as that term is defined in § 2-218.02(1D), that operates a medical cannabis business as a dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory.
(e)(1) A dispensary may not dispense more than 2 ounces of medical marijuana in a 30-day period to a qualifying patient, either directly or through the qualifying patient's caregiver; provided, that the Mayor, through rulemaking, may increase the quantity of medical marijuana that may be dispensed to up to 4 ounces.
(2) A cultivation center shall not possess more than 1,000 living marijuana plants at any time.
(3) It shall be unlawful for a dispensary to dispense or possess more than the quantity of medical marijuana needed to support the number of qualifying patients or caregivers registered to receive medical marijuana at that dispensary, as determined by the Mayor pursuant to rules issued under § 7-1671.13; provided, that the ABC Board may allow a dispensary to possess a higher quantity of medical marijuana in anticipation of additional qualifying patients or caregivers registering.
(f) No marijuana or paraphernalia at a dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory shall be visible from any public or other property.
(g) A dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory shall not locate within any residential district or within 300 feet of a preschool, primary or secondary school, or recreation center.
(g-1)(1) A cultivation center shall not be located within a Retail Priority Area, as designated pursuant to § 2-1217.73, and as approved by the Council pursuant to the Great Streets Neighborhood Retail Priority Areas Approval Resolution of 2007, effective July 10, 2007 (Res. 17-257; 54 DCR 7194).
(2) Any applicant that had an application pending as of June 20, 2012, for a registration to operate a cultivation center within a Retail Priority Area as identified in paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall be allowed to modify the application within 180 days of May 1, 2013, without negatively affecting the current status of the application.
(g-2) A dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory may be permitted to relocate to any election ward upon approval from the ABC Board; provided, that no more than 2 dispensaries and 6 cultivation centers may be registered to operate within an election ward.
(g-3) A dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory may be permitted to change ownership or controlling interest upon approval from the ABC Board.
(h) Each dispensary, cultivation center, and testing laboratory" shall:
(1) Be either a for-profit or nonprofit corporation incorporated within the District;
(2) Implement a security plan to prevent the theft or diversion of medical marijuana, including maintaining all medical marijuana in a secure, locked room that is accessible only by authorized persons; and
(3) Ensure that all of its employees receive training on compliance with District law, medical marijuana use, security, and theft prevention.
(i) Each dispensary shall regularly distribute to all qualifying patients and caregivers the educational materials regarding potential harmful drug interactions developed as part of the Program.
(j) No director, officer, member, incorporator, agent, or employee of a dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory who has access to the medical marijuana at the dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory shall have a felony conviction; provided, that the ABC Board shall not disqualify any of the forgoing individuals solely for a felony conviction of possession with intent to distribute marijuana that occurred before the July 17, 2014.
(k) A person found to have violated any provision in this chapter shall not be a director, officer, member, incorporator, agent, or employee of a dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory, and the registration identification card of the person shall be immediately revoked and the registration of the dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory shall be suspended until the person is no longer a director, officer, member, incorporator, agent, or employee of the dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory
(Feb. 25, 2010, D.C. Law 13-315, § 7; as added July 27, 2010, D.C. Law 18-210, § 2, 57 DCR 4798; Dec. 13, 2013, D.C. Law 20-59, § 2, 60 DCR 15484; Mar. 10, 2015, D.C. Law 20-189, § 2(b), 61 DCR 12119; Feb. 18, 2017, D.C. Law 21-209, § 2(f), 63 DCR 15291; July 17, 2018, D.C. Law 22-128, § 2, 65 DCR 5755; Apr. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 20-228, § 205 66 DCR 1656; May 10, 2019, D.C. Law 22-313, § 11, 67 DCR 12848; Dec. 3, 2020, D.C. Law 23-149, § 5012(e), 67 DCR 10493.)