The DC Council’s Committee of the Whole has scheduled a public hearing for July 2 on three medical cannabis bills, all introduced at the request of Mayor Muriel Bowser and sponsored by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.
B26-0346, the Medical Cannabis Conditional Licensure Extension Amendment Act, would simply cement the year extension for conditional license holders that they already received.
B26-0259, the Medical Cannabis Retailer Craft Preparation Endorsement Act, would allow licensed dispensaries to prepare certain cannabis products on-site, including edibles, topicals, and prerolls. The bill comes with guardrails: retailers would be prohibited from extracting cannabinoids or using butane or explosive gas in the preparation process.
Perhaps the most novel of the three is B26-0654, the Medical Cannabis Beverage Product Amendment Act, which would create a new production endorsement allowing local breweries and distilleries to partner with licensed cannabis manufacturers to produce nonalcoholic, cannabis-infused beverages. The bill would also establish a medical cannabinoids import endorsement, expand courier authority and clarify tax provisions. “This is an opportunity to support two local industries,” Mayor Bowser said when announcing the legislation in April. “We have fantastic local brewers and distillers in our city, we have a robust medical cannabis market, and this is a new opportunity for those two markets to collaborate and create a safe and smoke-free alternative for patients in DC.”
All three bills were referred to the Committee of the Whole earlier this year. Notices of the July 2 hearing were published in the DC Register earlier this month. Residents wishing to testify can contact the Council’s Committee of the Whole for sign-up information.
