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  Marijuana Dispensary Prepares To Open in D.C.

Posted by CN Staff on December 31, 2012 at 18:06:11 PT
By Tim Craig 
Source: Washington Post  

Washington, D.C. -- A townhouse on North Capitol Street in Northwest Washington, with unobstructed views of the U.S. Capitol from the sidewalk, was recently painted bright blue. The fresh paint stands out in a changing block of Truxton Circle, home to both a Dollar Plus Food Store as well as a high-rise project with a planned hotel and condominiums.But by spring, the townhouse at 1334 N. Capitol St. will make a bolder statement by becoming a symbol for the District’s leap into the growth and sale of medical marijuana.
“You can look out and see the dome of the Capitol,” said David A. Guard, the general manager of the Capital City Care dispensary, as he gave a Washington Post reporter a tour of the 2,000-square-foot office. “We want to set a precedent and want the country to see what medical marijuana can and should be.”As early as February, some District residents will be able to enter the townhouse by showing proper identification to a security officer. They will be escorted to a brightly lighted office with brick walls and bamboo flooring.The patients will have their prescriptions for marijuana — an illegal substance under federal law — verified by a receptionist. Then patients can consult an iPad in the office’s waiting area to review six strains of high-quality cannabis.When they are called, patients will walk past a security guard in a glass-enclosed room scanning video from security cameras.At another counter in the rear of the office, patients will then purchase — cash or credit — up to two ounces of medical pot help relieve pain, nausea or muscle spasms. Patients also will be able to buy water pipes, vaporizers or cigar pipes to inhale the drug in an adjoining showroom. The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs gave Capital City Care approval in December to open once it receives a final inspection from the Department of Health.In the coming weeks, another four dispensaries are expected to receive certificates of occupancy. They will be supplied by cultivation centers that can grow up to 95 marijuana plants at a time.So far, the city has selected four cultivation centers. One of them, Holistic Remedies on Fenwick Street Northeast, also received its certificate of occupancy in December. It can plant its first crop after it receives a final inspection from health officials.The pending openings mark the end of a laborious political and planning process that stretches back more than a decade. At the same time, the dispensaries and cultivation centers will test current and future federal administrations’ tolerance for the sale of medical pot in the District.“We have had some false starts and [it] has not gone as quickly as we would have wanted, but it’s the price we pay for being cautious and thorough,” said Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), the outgoing chairman of the council’s health committee. “I want this to start slowly.”In a 1998 ballot referendum, 69 percent of District voters supported the creation of a medical marijuana program. But city leaders ignored the vote, fearing a then-Republican-controlled Congress would intervene or withhold funding for the city over the implementation of the program.A decade later, Democrats gained control of both houses of Congress and the White House. In 2010, the council unanimously authorized medical marijuana after crafting what city officials say is the most tightly regulated program in the nation.Under city regulations, only District residents with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma qualify for a prescription. Qualifying patients can’t grow their own marijuana and must purchase it from licensed dispensaries, which are only permitted in industrial areas and at least 300 feet from schools and recreation centers.Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, cultivation centers are limited to 95 plants at a time, just below the threshold that could trigger mandatory five-year federal sentences. It took the health department nearly two years after the council vote to craft 96 pages of regulations governing the program.“We want to do it responsibly,” Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said. “I believe it has medicinal value, which is why we are going forward with this, but we want people to understand the rules.”Yet, some worry the city’s program will be too constrained by bureaucracy and neighborhood opposition to serve those in need.Although the law permits up to 10 cultivation centers, only six have been approved, in part because of opposition from some residents who live near industrial-zoned areas.Earlier this year, the council implemented a ban on additional cultivation centers in Northeast, where 70 percent of industrial-zoned land is located.Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), the incoming chairman of the health committee, also successfully pushed to ban cultivation centers in future retail corridors such as Benning Road, east of the Anacostia River.And with growing limits on dispensaries, advocates said demand could outstrip supply, perhaps driving up prices.Another potential problem for patients might be finding a doctor willing to write a prescription for marijuana. Of the 9,500 licensed physicians in the District, only 110 have expressed interest in getting authorization to prescribe marijuana, said Feseha Woldu, a senior deputy at the health department.Doctors who participate in the program will be closely scrutinized, officials said.“This will not be the kind of setup like they have in California, where doctors will just see you and write medical marijuana prescriptions,” Carla Williams, a health department attorney, recently told potential patients at a town hall meeting.Williams noted that the District’s program will be “the first of its kind” because the marijuana will be grown “in an all-urban environment,” raising concerns about security.Guard said Capital City Care is well-prepared, telling a reporter, “You would have to be James Bond to break into the place.”Although he declined to discuss some specifics, he said the office has at least a dozen surveillance cameras. Also, employees can only gain access to rooms through biometric scanning. When the store is closed, the marijuana will be stored in a safe similar to a small bank vault.In the coming months, Capital City Care plans to hold open houses when residents, city officials, the media and members of Congress can tour the dispensary.“We want people to come in here and feel like everything is calm,” Guard said. “It’s a time for patients to settle in and feel like home.”Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Tim CraigPublished: December 31, 2012Copyright: 2012 Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/Y8bUtu9OCannabisNews  Medical Marijuana  Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml 

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Comment #23 posted by Hope on January 03, 2013 at 16:24:45 PT
It's been streaking through here
like a wildfire. Those of us that have missed it so far are careful and a bit fearful and sharing tales of past such horrendous sickness episodes that we remember from past years. A houseful of people with the flu, or a virus or something like it and several people sick at one time can be quite a memorable event, especially if it involves bathrooms... and there's a shortage, and some sicknesses are so miserable and drawn out that they're never forgotten. This is bad. It's super contagious. Whole families are sick at one time. 
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on January 03, 2013 at 15:33:05 PT
Hope
The lady that came down and stayed over night from Cleveland last week called me today about something about her rottie and she is so sick. Her husband was also here but he isn't sick yet. I told her that I was worried and she was sure she wouldn't get it because her children had the flu and other family members too and she didn't get it. This is really contagious.
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on January 03, 2013 at 10:39:10 PT
Oh gosh.
It sounds awful. I am becoming rather fond of a product called Airborne. I think I'll go fix me up a dose of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_(dietary_supplement)http://www.airbornehealth.com/
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on January 03, 2013 at 10:05:53 PT
Hope
Thank you. The urgent care clinic yesterday was packed with people sick with whatever this nasty thing is. I only woke up 2 times with a serious coughing episode last night!
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on January 03, 2013 at 09:41:14 PT
FoM 
You look beautiful in those rose colored glasses. I like them on you.I'm glad you got some antibiotics, too. And I'm so glad you are feeling better.It's everywhere. People are so sick. I have friends and family here and all over the country coming down with what sounds like the same thing and it sure does make people sick. 
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on January 03, 2013 at 06:14:51 PT

museman
I live on hope and dreams. I wear my rose colored glasses everyday. Today since we finally went to a doctor and got antibiotics I feel like I might get better. My rose colored glasses are shining today. There is way too much beauty surrounding us to be down and out.
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on January 02, 2013 at 23:19:13 PT

Marijuana Smoothie, Anyone?
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-smoothie-anyone
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on January 02, 2013 at 22:44:20 PT

Runruff. Kap. FoM. Afterburner. Sam Adams. Museman
Observer. Storm Crow. Had Enough. Hemp World. John Tyler. Fight 4 Freedom. Ripit. Ekim. Mikeee. Paul. Dr. Ganj. Herbdoc. The GCW. The Rev. Rainbow. And so many, many others. We do have a bond. Like a fine invisible thread that goes for miles and miles and miles and got so strengthened as to almost be visible over the years. We spoke and listened to each other and we listened to others together, daily or near daily. We studied the same problem. The same injustice. We shared a very serious goal. Daily. For many years we've shared a common bond. Calling for the end of an abomination... and we won't stop... we can't stop, until it's ended or we croak... whichever comes first.What you have been put through, Runruff, had to change you. I thank God that it didn't kill you and it didn't change or hurt you more than it did. They stole so much from you and Linda and all your friends and family. They, the government, its agents and prohibitionists, did a bad, wrong, thing and and those of us that realized it, we couldn't stop them before they dragged you deep into their maw, the prison system. I'm so sorry for that. I've always been sorry for that and still am so sorry that we couldn't stop it before they took you away. I somehow thought we could. But we didn't.This is why it's serious. This is why we couldn't quit. It wasn't and isn't funny. Prohibitionists kill people and ruin lives for the sake of their prohibition of this often helpful and beneficial herb.It was a really horrible experience for us all, but the worst, of course, for you, and Linda and your friends and neighbors. A very costly and ugly and painful experience for you and your persecutors. It was horrible and it is terrible to remember. Your absence was awful. And I, and many others here, often worried about the reality of what was happening to you. But you endured and survived... and I'm so thankful for that. Mi Kapitan. Yes, you were rude. Very rude. In my way of over stating things, I almost said, "Extraordinarily rude", too. I didn't though because under the circumstances and considering what you've been through and what you've seen, it wasn't that extraordinarily rude. People have done worse than being rude, for much less. But, of course, as always, you were very colorful, enlightening, and eloquent even as you lashed out in anger. You, too, I know, have suffered injustice because of the prohibitionist's pogroms that have rained hell on the world for years. Museman has suffered. FoM has suffered. So many have. But amazingly, we, the "We" that we all are, that we all have become, are getting closer and closer to ending the reign of terror and bullying the prohibitionists have held over us, our friends, our families, neighbors, and loved ones in this, the land of the free... and lots of other places... nearly every place in the world, for so long.The worst is nearly over, I think. It's not over yet. Far from it in many places, but it's getting better faster than it's ever done before. I'm always hoping the last death spewed from the prohibitionist's "War" was the very last one. Some day even the imprisonment, stealing, intimidation, and outrageous fines and lies will end.
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Comment #15 posted by afterburner on January 02, 2013 at 21:04:45 PT

Save the Herb, Save the Planet
AlterNet / By Doug Fine.
18 COMMENTS.
Is the Marijuana Industry Green Enough?
A trip to the Emerald Cup, an outdoor organic marijuana growers' competition, reveals the environmental potential of the cannabis industry.
December 28, 2012 | This article was published in partnership with GlobalPossibilities.org.
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-industry-green-enough?akid=9885.313040.MIGS8o&rd=1&src=newsletter769711&t=11
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Comment #14 posted by museman on January 02, 2013 at 09:43:49 PT

FoM
Ok, I do hope everyone has a Good and Happy New Year.Costs nothing to hope and dream.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on January 02, 2013 at 07:30:55 PT

museman
Happy New Year!
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Comment #12 posted by museman on January 02, 2013 at 07:20:38 PT

This man still echoes my sentiments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbKsgaXQy2kMaybe finally people are starting to listen.Maybe it can be a "good one, without any fear." for a few more people than last year.War Is Over -If You Want It.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 01, 2013 at 18:05:07 PT

Kaptinemo
I know you don't like stuff like this but we love you! 
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on January 01, 2013 at 17:56:53 PT:

I've been rude, sorry. Happy New Year to all!
And...it may be a busier year for us than ever before. We're close, friends, I can almost taste victory, we have never been as close as we are now, not even during the false dawn of the 1970's, with States decriminalizing. After having to endure so much, for so long, the end is in sight. WE MUST DRIVE ON! 
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on January 01, 2013 at 17:48:43 PT:

Runruff, no need to apologize.
I did not take that personally...nor would I ever. I learned long ago the value of shutting my mouth and keeping pinkies away from my keyboard when I get riled, as being Scots-Irish has some disadvantages, temper-wise ;). I tend to spout off when I should shut up, and it's cost me some friendships over the years that I regret having ended. And I haven't been through what you have. When they came at me, they didn't have anything but an association, but it was enough to cost me a career. They stole years from you. I had only the 50-cent tour; you paid full price. Plenty of reason for the 'gunsel' attitude.But, and I tell you this sincerely, we need some more of that. We are entering the worst part, the hardest fighting, because now the prohibs aren't contemptuously laughing at the 'wacky legalizers', as they used to call us at DEAWatch; they are p*ss-their-pants scared now, as they have realized they lost a whole generation with their lies. The gigantic DrugWar edifice that was built on sand, the one they thought would last forever, the one they have staked their whole lives and pensions on, is now in very real danger of collapsing. And, like you, like me, like so many of us who've been raked by the Beast's claws and sickened by its' breath, our lives trashed and our futures stolen, have no reason to provide a 'bridge of silver' for them to retreat across. Scores of millions of us harmed by a system that is losing its' grip on power. Scores of millions with personal axes to grind. You think they are not aware of that? Of course they are, if only because of what they read here daily.So, like the cornered rats they are, they'll fight harder than ever before. It will be like the last German assault in WW1 just before the Armistice; doomed to fail but causing great damage in the hopes that the opponents will be so exhausted that they'll be able to get better terms.And that's why we need that 'gunsel' attitude. They had their chance to change their ways, long ago, when they could have backed away from MMJ and just left it alone, but they didn't. They arrogantly assumed they'd always be holding the Sword of Justice, and we'd always be hacked with it. But via the electoral process, via democracy, the sword is being placed in our hands, now.Time to start doing some hacking of our own...
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 01, 2013 at 15:04:31 PT

Runruff and Kapt and Everyone!
Happy New Year! 
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Comment #7 posted by runruff on January 01, 2013 at 11:55:12 PT

Hippy New Gear!
I have been trying to mellow out and reconfigure my brain. I believe the experiences I have had these past ten years have made me aggressive and confrontational. I find myself with the image of a gunslinger strolling down back streets and backrooms spoiling for a fight. A verbal fight that is. I needed to take a breath, a step back and reconnoiter. It was when I last challenged The Kapt here on a point of history that made me step back and reassess myself. I had become aggressive and even caustic at times. I did not used to be like this. Anyway my new year resolution is to be more congenial and be my old self again. Most of the major battles on this subject have been won. The once unheard is now the common word. I believe we have won and now it is time to talk more about planning than conquering. I have been sorry for attacking Kapt ever since I done it and made want to reexamine myself and rest my mind before I decided to reach out again.I think you all here can feel how I feel about you. I do certainly wish all of you a happy and prosperous new year. May you have peace and good health.Best wishes to all!Linda and Jerry 
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on January 01, 2013 at 08:55:13 PT:

They do love their Gordian Knots, don't they?
... showing proper identification to a security officer...They will be escorted...patients will have their prescriptions for marijuana...verified by a receptionistA wonder they are not cavity-searched, too.And the sword of relegalization cuts right through all that bureaucratic BS.
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Comment #5 posted by ripit on January 01, 2013 at 08:07:55 PT

happy new year!!
hope its as good if not better than this last one!  peace!

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Comment #4 posted by Hope on December 31, 2012 at 21:56:12 PT

Wow.
"When they are called, patients will walk past a security guard in a glass-enclosed room scanning video from security cameras."You'd think the herb was gold or plutonium or something.Just.... Wow.Oh yeah. Prohibition did that.
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on December 31, 2012 at 21:45:27 PT

In about fifteen minutes, 2013 will be in Texas!
Happy New Year!
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Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on December 31, 2012 at 19:33:51 PT

Happy New Year to All!
May Pot and Peace prevail on earth from this moment on, and in that order...We have reached a milestone, midnight tonight in CO has taken on a whole new meaning, thanks to everyone involved, legalize it in all of the states and continue to assert ourselves and point to the hipocracy of current drug laws. Time to get real!Legalize it, happy 2013!
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on December 31, 2012 at 18:07:44 PT

Happy New Year 2013
We've come a long way. Have a safe and wonderful New Years Eve everyone!
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