The District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis (ABC) Board has stepped into a high-stakes legal dispute over a downtown medical cannabis retailer license, granting a declaratory order that blocks an unauthorized transfer attempt between two local operators.
In a proposed order issued July 29, 2026, the Board ruled that Chong Nak Son remains the sole owner of record for medical cannabis retailer license ABCA-131901, doing business as Blunt DC, located at 1606 K Street NW. The decision effectively kills a pending license transfer application filed by other cannabis company Half Smoke Herb Inc.
The decision unwinds months of confusion stemming from a family rift, an unauthorized business deal, and parallel litigation in D.C. Superior Court.
The dispute began in late 2025. On December 5, 2025, Chong Nak Son executed a Durable Power of Attorney (POA) in Montgomery County, Maryland, appointing his son, Jun Ho Son, as his attorney-in-fact. The broad document authorized Jun Ho Son to handle various business interests on his father’s behalf.
Two months later, on February 6, 2026, Jun Ho Son used that power of attorney to sign a Cannabis Management Agreement attempting to transfer the Blunt DC medical cannabis license to Half Smoke Herb Inc. The following day, Jun Ho Son submitted a Medical Cannabis Business Transfer Consent Form to the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) seeking official board approval for the deal.
However, ABCA records showed that neither Chong Nak Son nor his son had ever filed a formal Designation of Attorney or Agent form with the agency prior to submitting the transfer request.
Unaware or unsupportive of the agreement negotiated by his son, Chong Nak Son took immediate action to protect his business. On February 18, 2026, he personally submitted a request to ABCA to place the license into official “safekeeping”—a regulatory hold typically used when a dispensary is relocating or temporarily halting operations. The Board granted his request, placing the license in safekeeping through September 25, 2026.
Shortly after, on March 3, 2026, Chong Nak Son formally revoked his son’s Power of Attorney entirely, according to the board order.
When Half Smoke realized the license transfer had stalled, the prospective buyer took the battle to civil court.
On March 27, 2026, Half Smoke filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court (Half Smoke Herb Inc. v. SK Quality Services-US Corp., et al., Case No. 2026-CAB-002033), seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction to force the sale. Half Smoke argued that Jun Ho Son’s signature under the active power of attorney created a legally binding transfer contract.
On May 15, 2026, a D.C. Superior Court judge granted the motion only in part. The court temporarily enjoined Chong Nak Son from selling or transferring the Blunt DC license to any other third party while the suit moved forward, but did not order ABCA to approve the transfer to Half Smoke.
That restraining order expired on May 29, 2026, after Half Smoke opted not to seek an extension. In a sworn affidavit submitted a day before the TRO expired, Chong Nak Son made his stance explicit:
“I have never transferred or consented to the transfer of License No. ABCA-131901 to any third-party individual or entity.”
Seeking to clean up its regulatory status with ABCA, Blunt DC filed a Request for Declaratory Order with the Board. The dispensary asked regulators to confirm that Chong Nak Son is the sole owner on file and to declare Half Smoke’s pending transfer request null and void.
Half Smoke attempted to block the request by filing a Motion to Intervene, hoping to keep the transfer application alive.
In its July 29 proposed order, the ABC Board sided firmly with Chong Nak Son.
Applying Maryland law—which governed the original power of attorney—the Board noted that a principal has the clear legal right to revoke an agent’s authority at any time. Because Chong Nak Son formally revoked the power of attorney on March 3 before the Board reviewed or took final action on the transfer, Jun Ho Son no longer possessed the authority to act on his father’s behalf.
Furthermore, D.C. cannabis regulations (22-C DCMR § 5502.4) dictate that no license transfer involving 50 percent or more of an entity’s ownership can be processed without a notarized, signed Transfer of License Affidavit Form from the owner of record.
“Because the POA is no longer valid and the transfer application is incomplete, the Board cannot accept the POA as authorizing the transfer and cannot grant the transfer of License ABCA-131901 from Blunt DC to Half Smoke where the license holder has disclaimed the transfer consent form before the Board approved the transfer,” the Board concluded in its proposed order.
The Board granted Half Smoke limited intervenor status for the sole purpose of submitting written arguments or evidence regarding the proposed order. However, the Board declared Half Smoke’s broader opposition motions moot, effectively killing the transfer application.
Under the terms of the order, the parties have 15 days from July 29, 2026, to file written briefs, sworn affidavits, or supporting exhibits if they wish to challenge the Board’s proposed findings. If no valid challenge is raised, the proposed order will automatically become final, leaving Chong Nak Son in complete, sole control of the Blunt DC medical cannabis retail license.
