Tag: Phil Mendelson
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D.C. Council Passes Sweeping Bill To Reform Medical Cannabis Program
The D.C. Council on Tuesday gave its unanimous and final approval to a bill that makes sweeping changes to the District’s medical cannabis program, capping a long and obstacle-ridden journey for the legislation, which was introduced nearly two years ago. It now heads to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s desk for a signature, and then to Congress…
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Bill Would Offer D.C.’s Weed ‘Gifters’ Path To Legality With Transitional Licenses
D.C.’s unlicensed cannabis storefronts — familiarly known as gifting or “I-71” shops — have dodged multiple attempts over the last year by local leaders to crack down on their business. Earlier this year, they repeatedly locked horns with D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who tried passing emergency legislation to shut them down and blasted them…
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Q&A: Terrence White to Lead I-71 Committee, a Business Coalition in D.C.’s Cannabis Gray Market
The I-71 Committee has had a busy year of advocacy. Amid a push over the last year by D.C. government to more closely regulate and inspect recreational cannabis “gifting” businesses and bolster the city’s medical cannabis market, it’s been a time for gray market business operators to “come out of the shadows,” says Terrence White,…
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D.C. Council Unanimously Approves ‘Self-Certification’ For Cannabis Patients
The D.C. Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an emergency bill allowing adults to register for the District’s medical cannabis program simply by “self-certifying” they use pot for medical purposes. The measure, introduced by Councilmembers Mary Cheh (Ward 3) and Kenyan McDuffie (Ward 5), does away with the need for a doctor’s note to purchase weed…
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Erin Palmer Wants To Bring D.C.’s Weed Gifting Shops ‘In The Daylight’
Erin Palmer is well aware she’s got a huge task ahead of her. The 40-year-old ethics lawyer and mother-of-three is hoping to unseat D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, a three-term incumbent who she readily admits is “an institution” of District politics. But Palmer isn’t interested in engaging in the vitriolic discourse that often animates important…
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Preliminary D.C. Budget Creates Cannabis Social Equity Fund To Boost Minority Entrepreneurs
D.C.’s preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes a provision that would redirect tax dollars from medical cannabis sales towards a new “social equity fund” to help minority entrepreneurs get weed businesses off the ground. The “Medical Cannabis Social Equity Fund” would be jointly administered by D.C.’s Department of Small and Local Business Development…
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D.C. Council Narrowly Rejects Bill To Shut Down Cannabis Gifting Economy
The D.C. Council on Tuesday voted down an emergency measure to ramp up enforcement against the District’s many unregulated cannabis businesses – storefronts and delivery services that “gift” weed with the purchase of other goods, like t-shirts and potted plants. The bill, introduced late last week by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, would have granted D.C.’s…
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D.C. Council Creates Tax Holiday For Medical Weed Businesses To Counter ‘Threat’ Of Gray Market Competition
The D.C. Council on Wednesday unanimously approved an emergency bill that establishes a tax holiday week for medical weed businesses around April 20, and allows seniors to sign up for a cannabis card without a doctor’s note. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who introduced the temporary measure, said it was necessary in light of an ongoing…
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D.C. Council Holds First-Ever Hearing On Legalizing Cannabis Sales As Congressional Ban Lingers On
The D.C. Council on Friday held a much-anticipated hearing on a bill to legalize recreational cannabis sales, getting live input from more than 100 witnesses on a wide range of questions, from how to tax weed businesses, to where they should be located and how to create an equitable industry. The crux of the bill,…
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Podcast: Mendelson’s About-Face On A Gray Market Crackdown
For the inaugural episode of our podcast’s third season, host Scott Cecil is joined by The Outlaw Report’s editor-in-chief to unpack how a last-minute legislative proposal to crack down on D.C.’s unpermitted cannabis shops quickly crashed and burned. It started last month when D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson quietly announced an emergency bill that would have…