D.C.’s medical marijuana shops losing money Outlets have seen just more than 100 patients, but rules meant ‘to keep the feds calm’ may ease By Becca Clemons Tribune Newspapers WASHINGTON — The tidy Takoma Wellness Center, one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries to open in the nation’s capital, has a quaint reception area furnished with black leather chairs, plants and artwork. On the front desk are a pile of business cards and a sign-in sheet. In the back, shelves are stocked with the latest marijuana accessories: pipes, cookbooks, even a machine that mixes the drug into butter or oil for cooking. All that’s missing are more patients. Since opening this summer, the three Washington-based marijuana dispensaries have served a total of 111 patients in a district with about 600,000 residents. That’s about 100 times fewer patients, on a per capita basis, than states such as California or Oregon, where the drug can also be legally used to alleviate illnesses. Not surprisingly, all three of the dispensaries say they are losing money. “I think there was a general expectation that the numbers would be higher,” said Jeffrey Kahn, owner of Takoma Wellness Center. The low numbers reflect a medical marijuana program considered the most restrictive in the U.S. Patients can get prescriptions only from doctors with whom they have had an ongoing relationship, and only if they suffer from one of four conditions: HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, cancer or severe muscle spasms, such as those caused by multiple sclerosis. Although three dispensaries have opened, the law allows up to five. To visit one, patients must register with the health department, make an appointment and show a district-issued identification card to pass through security. That’s a stark contrast from California, where patient registration is voluntary, doctors use their own judgment to determine whether medical pot can relieve an ailment, and some dispensaries are steps from the beach or deliver to a patient’s door. In other states, the list of qualifying conditions is longer. A law passed in Illinois this year included 30 ailments. “They deliberately have the most buttoned-down laws in the country,” said Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at UCLA. He said the district’s strict rollout of medical marijuana reflected a desire by local officials “to keep the feds calm.” For more than a decade, District of Columbia officials struggled to make medical marijuana available to residents. In 1998, 69 percent of district voters approved a medical marijuana initiative. But such efforts were routinely overruled by conservative members of Congress, who wield unusual influence over the district. After the 1998 ballot measure, then-Rep. Bob Barr, a Republican from Georgia, amended the district’s budget to keep money from being spent on the program, effectively blocking it. But changing attitudes in Congress, as well as in the Justice Department, have opened the door for the district to quietly begin its medical pot program. Even Barr, who left office in 2003, reversed his position after aligning with libertarians. His newfound opposition to government intrusion led him to lobby Congress in 2007 on behalf of the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit group that supports legalization, to remove his own amendment. The Barr amendment was removed in 2009, and medical pot became legal in the district in 2010, drawing little notice from Congress. By that time, medical cannabis was legal in 14 states. Even when Colorado and Washington state passed laws legalizing recreational use last year, Congress said “nothing. Not a whisper,” said Kleiman, who advised Washington state officials on setting up their marijuana program. The Justice Department subsequently said it would not challenge the legalization programs as long as they were well-regulated. That move paved the way for dispensaries in the district to operate with little fear of federal intervention. The changed landscape also has advocates confident that Congress will not object to a proposed local law that would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of pot. “Congress is unlikely to step in,” said council member Tommy Wells, who has proposed making possession of 1 ounce or less of pot a civil offense, subject to a fine as low as $25. The measure, aimed at curbing a disproportionate number of arrests of African-Americans for marijuana possession, has support from 10 of 13 council members, as well as Mayor Vincent Gray. Seventeen states have similar laws. Council member Yvette Alexander opposes decriminalization, warning that it could exacerbate the district’s drug problem. “I think it’s going to encourage the drug market even more, if there’s no fear of a crime or criminal record,” she said. But Wells predicted that it would be law by spring. “I was excited about the response — or rather lack of response — by Congress,” said Dan Riffle, lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Everyone gets the message that marijuana is going to be legal sooner rather than later.” rclemons@tribune Around the world DENVER — The world’s first state-licensed marijuana retailers, catering to Colorado’s newly legal recreational market for pot, are stocking their shelves ahead of a New Year’s grand opening that supporters and detractors see as a turning point in America’s drug culture. Outside the United States, Uruguay’s parliament recently cleared the way for state-sanctioned marijuana sales, but the South American nation is at least months from having a system in place. The Netherlands has long had an informal decriminalization policy, with Amsterdam coffee shops allowed to sell marijuana products to customers. But back-end distribution of the drug to those businesses remains illegal. — Keith Coffman, Reuters
Posted on: Mon, 30 Dec 2013 15:24:23 +0000
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