Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ENROLLED ORIGINAL

                                        A RESOLUTION

                                              24-83

                   IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                          April 6, 2021

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Legalization of

       Marijuana for Medical Treatment Amendment Act of 2010 to ban straw ownership,

       provide that the number of testing laboratories allowed in an election ward cannot exceed

       2, provide that no person who has a felony conviction for a crime of violence, gun

       offense, tax evasion, fraud, or credit card fraud that occurred within 3 years preceding the

       filing of an application shall be eligible to be a director, owner, officer, or agent of a

       dispensary, cultivation center, or testing laboratory, and remove the prohibition

       preventing an individual with a felony conviction from working at a dispensary,

       cultivation center, or testing laboratory.

      RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act

may be cited as the Medical Cannabis Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2021.

         (a) On May 4, 2010, the Council passed the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical

Treatment Amendment Act of 2010, effective July 27, 2010 (D.C. Law 18-210; D.C. Official

Code  7-1671.01 et seq.), to strengthen the medical cannabis program in the District and

establish key definitions for medical cannabis usage in the industry. Preserving the Districts

conservative position on general cannabis use at the time, the law prohibited an individual with

any felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction on a drug-related offense from being able to

apply for a license to own, operate, or work in a medical cannabis cultivation or dispensary

center (medical cannabis center).

         (b) To narrow the prohibition, on November 1, 2016, the Council passed the Medical

Marijuana Omnibus Amendment Act of 2016, effective February 18, 2017 (D.C. Law 21-209;

D.C. Official Code  7-1671.01 et seq.), to expand the eligibility criteria for a medical cannabis

license to include individuals with misdemeanor convictions on drug-related offenses. The law

still prohibited individuals with felony convictions and certain misdemeanor convictions from

applying for a medical cannabis license.

         (c) The underlying emergency would amend the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical

Treatment Amendment Act of 2010 (current law) to remove the blanket prohibition on felony

convictions but will still restrict individuals with certain felony convictions from obtaining a

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                                                                       ENROLLED ORIGINAL

medical cannabis license. An individual who within 3 years preceding the date of an application

with the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) for a medical cannabis

license who has a felony conviction for a crime of violence, gun offense, tax evasion, fraud, or

credit card fraud would be prohibited from obtaining medical cannabis license to own or operate,

or work in a medical cannabis center.

         (d) Under current law, applicants who meet the eligibility criteria for a medical cannabis

certified business enterprise may be awarded a preference point equal to 50 points or 20% of the

available scoring points, whichever is higher during the application process. The underlying

emergency would ban straw ownership to protect the integrity of the medical cannabis certified

business enterprise application and licensure process and the legitimate awarding of the

preference points.

        (e) The underlying emergency also amends the current law to provide, in addition to the

existing limit of 6 cultivation centers within an election ward, a limit of no more than 2 testing

laboratories within an election ward.

        (f) ABRA has begun reviewing Letters of Intent from applicants interested in owning,

operating, or working in a medical cannabis center. The application period for the Letter of

Intent opened on March 22, 2021. It is of vital importance that the Council expediently pass the

underlying emergency so that the new requirements are law and known to prospective applicants,

that returning citizens who have otherwise been prohibited from owning, operating, or working

in a medical cannabis center will be provided the opportunity to do so, and to prohibit those who

seek to circumvent the application and licensure criteria requirements by using straw ownership.

      Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances

enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the

Medical Cannabis Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 be adopted after a single reading.

       Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.

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