Updated Mar. 29, 2025 to reflect the most recent ABC Board meeting.
Updated Mar. 19, 2025 to explain the difference between appearing on the ABC licensing docket and having an official license. ABCA does not make it publicly know who has received an official license. Also updated to reflect new licenses.
In 2023, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration offered unlicensed gifting operators a window to apply to be legal medical cannabis dispensaries. Out of hundreds of shops in the city, a little over 70 applied.
But the ones that applied through ABCA were safe from enforcement against their gifting of cannabis while they transitioned to the legal market. Over the last year, only fourteen unlicensed cannabis dispensaries have successfully transitioned to the legal D.C. market as of Mar. 14, 2025.
Some unlicensed operators who choose to transition were playing a game of profiting from gifting as long as possible before transitioning into the substantially less profitable medical market. But the time to face the music has come. In recently passed legislation, D.C. resolidified the Mar. 31, 2025 deadline for these shops to be officially open.
According to the emergency legislation passed, any unlicensed operator who applied and is not open by the last day of March will face loss of license and closure on April 1, 2025.
There are 21 businesses who are licensed but not yet open, but an additional 12 applicants have yet to be on the licensing docket. Those 12 are unlikely to complete the additional opening requirements in time to meet the March deadline.
Below is a breakdown of the businesses facing the deadline:
Still Processing
| Cannalife Center LLC | 2115 Rhode Island Avenue NE |
| Natural Elevation | 1216 H Street NE Unit B |
| District Gaslight | 1738 14th Street NW |
| DC Capital Connect | 1263 Wisconsin Avenue NW |
| Positronics | 1209 Tenth Street NW |
| Za Partners LLC | 1383‐1385 H Street NE |
| the crank corner | 1915 7th Street NW |
| Sticky Meds | 1104 8th Street NE Unit‐C |
| Columbia Height Market | 3459 14th Street N.W. |
| Lifted Shop – Dispensary & Weed Delivery DC | 2622 Georgia Avenue NW |
| Pipe Dreams | 4510 East Capitol Street NE |
| Georgetown Supply | 1251 Wisconsin Avenue NW |
Licensed not open
These businesses may or may not have their final license. Unfortunately, ABCA does not publicly announce when business are officially licensed. These are businesses that have appeared on the licensing docket which means they are able to submit their final papers.
| Luxury Soil | 775 H Street NE |
| Royal Tobacco | 2604 Connecticut Avenue NW |
| Apple Dream Shop | 3106 Mount Pleasant Street NW |
| Gasaholics | 1230 H St NE |
| The Grove Shop | 1612 7th Street NW |
| Smoke & Tingz LLC | 3622 Georgia Ave NW |
| Mr. Nice Guys | 1515 15th Street NW |
| UpNSmoke II | 427 8th Street SE |
| UpnSmoke III, LLC | 712 15th Street NE |
| UpnSmoke IV LLC | 3289 M Street NW |
| All Vybez DC | 3011 Georgia Avenue NW |
| Metroleaf | 3919 14th Street NW |
| 1314 9th Street LLC | 1314 9th Street NW |
| Yemaya’s Lounge | 3919 Georgia Avenue NW, Unit 1 |
| Dreams Wellness LLC | 1829 M Street NW #101 |
| Our Spot Tobacco Shop | 5320 Georgia Avenue NW |
| Buddha Plug | 2018 Florida Avenue NW |
| Doobies District | 1526 U Street NW |
| Cloud 9 | 1703 North Capitol Street NE |
| Vibez | 1768 Columbia Road NW |
| Herbal Harvest | 1263 Wisconsin Avenue NW #2 |
Open
These businesses are either listed on ABCA’s retail website or through other reporting we know they are open.
