Mayor of Washington, DC signs medical cannabis self-certification bill into law

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser signed legislation Wednesday that will ease access for patients using medicinal cannabis in the nation’s capital.

The measure, known as the Medical Marijuana Self-Certification Emergency Amendment Act of 2022, will allow patients enrolled in the medical cannabis program to “self-certify” their qualifying condition for treatment.

This means that these patients no longer need a doctor’s referral to obtain a medical cannabis card.

Bowser hailed the new regulation as a victory for both patients and medical cannabis providers.

“We’ve made building a more patient-centric medical marijuana program a priority over the years, and this legislation builds on those efforts,” Bowser said in a statement Wednesday. “By bringing more medical marijuana patients into the legal marketplace in a timely manner and doing more to level the playing field for licensed medical marijuana providers, we know we can protect residents, support local businesses and bring clarity to the community.”

“I applaud the Council for advancing this innovative solution to a complex issue, and I look forward to working with the Council and ABRA on enduring, broader medical marijuana legislation in the future,” she continued.

The ordinance was passed by the Washington, DC City Council late last month.

Supporters of the measure said it was vital for medical cannabis dispensaries in Washington, DC, which have taken a hit to their bottom line due to the proliferation of illegal marijuana dealers in the city.

“Due to the lower barriers to entry into the gray market, a significant number of medical marijuana patients have switched from purchasing their medical marijuana from legal medical dispensaries to the illegal gray market, posing significant risk to the long-term viability of the district’s legal medical marijuana industry,” Council members Kenyan McDuffie and Mary Cheh, the decree’s two sponsors, said in a statement last month. “If this trend continues, it’s possible that gray market sales could wipe out the district’s legal marijuana dispensaries.”

Many of these unregulated Washington, DC cannabis dealers engage in the practice of “gift giving,” where a customer pays for a product such as a t-shirt in exchange for receiving cannabis as a “gift.”

In April, the DC City Council voted against a proposal that would have imposed large fines on these illegal marijuana stores.

Under the proposal, these unregulated businesses would have been fined up to $30,000. It would also have allowed adults 21 and older in DC to obtain medicinal cannabis without a doctor’s visit.

That dilemma looms over a Congressional ban on recreational sales in Washington, DC

Voters in the district approved an initiative that legalized recreational cannabis in 2014, but Congress, which oversees DC’s laws, has since included a provision in every budget bill prohibiting the commercialization of recreational cannabis in the city.

It was a blow to cannabis advocates in the nation’s capital, and to Bowser, who expressed hope last fall when Senate Democrats introduced a spending bill that didn’t include the provision.

“The Senate Budget Act is a critical step in recognizing that DC people should be governed by DC values ​​in a democracy,” Bowers’ office said in a statement at the time. “As we continue the journey towards DC statehood, I would like to thank Senator Appropriations Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, our good friend and Subcommittee Chairman Senator Chris Van Hollen, and of course our champion on the Hill, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes, thank Norton, for recognizing and promoting the will of DC voters. We call on Congress to pass a final spending bill that will similarly remove all anti-Home Rule tabs, allowing DC to spend our local funds as it sees fit.