cannabisnews.com: D.C. Council Reaches Compromise On MMJ Facilities
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D.C. Council Reaches Compromise On MMJ Facilities
Posted by CN Staff on January 17, 2012 at 17:57:00 PT
By Tom Howell Jr., The Washington Times
Source: Washington Times
Washington, D.C. -- The D.C. Council struck a deal on Tuesday to avoid the clustering of medical marijuana facilities in a single part of the city, grandfathering in applicants who got preliminary approval to grow the drug in Ward 5 but potentially altering the plans of companies who hoped to join them in the industrial slice of Northeast.Emergency legislation caps the number of cultivation centers in any single ward at six. Any ward that accepts five cultivations centers cannot accept more than one dispensary, a site where the drug is doled out to qualified patients.
While broadly written, the legislation addresses the loud concerns of residents in Ward 5, who feared they would shoulder the lion’s share of the medical marijuana program because zoning and security restrictions prompted many medical marijuana entrepreneurs to seek space in warehouses near Bladensburg Road and New York Avenue.The District approved its program in a referendum in 1998, yet congressional intervention forced it to wait for more than a decade to move on the initiative.“We voted for the referendum, we didn’t vote to put them all in one place,” council member Marion Barry, Ward 8 Democrat, said Tuesday.Council member David A. Catania, at-large independent, forged a compromise from the dais with council member Vincent B. Orange, at-large Democrat who lives in Ward 5 and wanted to cap the number of cultivation centers in any ward at five.Mr. Orange has spoken openly about the concerns of Ward 5 in the days since its council member, Harry Thomas Jr., resigned in disgrace this month and pleaded guilty to stealing city funds.Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown signed onto Mr. Orange’s bill, noting “the residents of Ward 5 have spoken loudly, that they don’t want every single facility in their ward,” Mr. Brown said.The city’s Department of Health has rolled out its medical marijuana program in a steady and tightly regulated manner. It is entering the final phase of the application process before awarding up to 10 cultivation registrations and five dispensary registrations.As it stands, the emergency legislation could prevent the city from awarding more than eight cultivation registrations, because all but a pair of applicants, one each in wards 7 and 8, have proposed sites in Ward 5.Wavering stances from federal drug enforcement officials have put marijuana programs around the country on uncertain ground. The council’s action could make “a tenuous situation even more tenuous,” as Mr. Catania put it from the dais.Mr. Catania signaled he would only support an emergency bill that prohibits any more medical marijuana facilities from entering Ward 5 than those that have received preliminary approval.“There’s a balance that needs to take place,” Mr. Catania said. “And I tried to strike that balance today by saying we’ll accept those that have followed the process lawfully and we’ll then put the brakes on any additional ones.”The emergency bill could have an averse effect on cultivation applicants waiting to see if their sites in Ward 5 are approved, as well as a number of dispensary applicants who will likely vie over just one allotted spot in the ward.“It negatively impacts us because we were a de facto cooperative of five growers in one warehouse,” said Montgomery Blair Sibley, whose Medicinal Marijuana Cooperative of the District of Columbia and four sub-tenants are awaiting preliminary approval. “They can’t take our money and applications and a year of our time and then change the rules after the fact.”Mr. Barry tried to restrict the number of registrations each company should receive under the program to one each, citing “fairness,” yet his measure failed.Four of the seven applications that have been forwarded to the Advisory Neighborhoods Commissions for the cultivation of marijuana are from two companies, District Growers LLC and the Montel Williams-affiliated Abatin Wellness Center.Source: Washington Times (DC)Author: Tom Howell Jr., The Washington TimesPublished: January 17, 2012Copyright: 2012 The Washington Times, LLC Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.com URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Lqo0hbB5CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on February 13, 2012 at 14:52:49 PT
D.C.: Final Rules for Legalization 
Final Rules for Legalization of Medical Marijuana Produced in Washington, D.C. By Pappas Law Group
 Published: Monday, Feb. 13, 2012Long Beach, Calif. -- In 2009, noting that it was "allowing" the voters of Washington, D.C to vote on and implement that city's Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Law, Congress approved medical marijuana in the federal District of Columbia, over which it has all governmental power. On Dec. 2nd, 2011, in anticipation of the opening of dispensaries and cultivation centers, the District's mayor released final rules for the program.URL: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/13/4260569/final-rules-for-legalization-of.html
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Comment #4 posted by Oleg the Tumor on January 20, 2012 at 10:07:18 PT:
A word on "Zero Tolerance"
When an architect, engineer or any draftsman creating blueprints specifies "Zero" when it comes to tolerance, the thing is doomed. Buildings must sway or they will fail. Trees that don't bend with the wind, break. 
(A very good example of a master designer at work.)But when you hear politicians say "zero tolerance", it means something is already broken and they have no clue how to fix it, so they must look for a "consensus of the clueless" to maintain control, ensuring leaderless leadership.This lack of leadership is what we should have "zero tolerance" for.Legal like alcohol!
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on January 18, 2012 at 16:04:56 PT
Thanks for the support!
The GCW: I believe this is your work!  Many thanks!!!http://www.newburyportnews.com/opinion/x1561261880/Councilors-attempt-misguided
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Comment #2 posted by Oleg the Tumor on January 18, 2012 at 16:03:29 PT:
Smoking and Driving – Nanogram Bingo
The GCW – interesting link from the Denver Post, thank you.The discussion about marijuana and driving is far from settled. 
I for one, have heard too many pronouncements from too many "experts", claiming the high ground (no pun intended, they don't deserve it) when it comes to reports and studies "proving" that driving while stoned is dangerousWell, guess what? Driving is a dangerous activity. So is handling a power tool or promoting a new idea. Just ask Martin Luther or Galileo.
What we need is a good working definition of "impaired" (as to marijuana) because as far as I can see there is none. Experts can make assumptions all they want. They can also claim that "the studies" are completed and the results in and that's all there is to it.Bull.We've been lied to before and not for the last time.Until cannabis is legalized, and large scale tests can be conducted an "open atmosphere", (where the scientists are not trying to prove a preset conclusion, particularly one specified by the insurance industry) we will not know everything this miracle plant has to offer nor will we have a clue about how it affects hand/eye coordination, spatial/distance judgment and other factors regarding safety.But stoned drivers usually drive under the speed limit.On the other hand, alcoholics are easy to spot. They fly too low.Given time, this will all sort itself out.
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on January 18, 2012 at 13:06:14 PT
Re: compromise GAME
Compromise is a game move to some. In,US CO: EDITORIAL: Sensible limit for smoking, driving
 
 (Webpage: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_19761273
Pubdate: 18 Jan. 2012) "...Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, said he is leaning toward proposing a zero-tolerance bill. That is to say, if drivers are found to have in their systems any amount of THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana, they'd be busted. While a dozen other states have such zero-tolerance measures, we think that's too harsh. ..."It seems the REPUGNOID is going zero with the goal to acheive a 5 OR LESS. Unless of course He is truly ignorant. Maybe both: He IS a REPUGNOID.
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