A Full Year After Washington D.C. Legalized Marijuana, Still No Place to Purchase It

It’s been a full year since Washington D.C. legalized marijuana, ignoring House Republicans that were strongly against it. But congressional conservatives continue to ban pot sales in Washington, D.C.

Despite this, sales of home growing equipment are booming, and bartenders are even receiving marijuana joints as tips in local bars. Alex Jeffrey, executive director of DC NORML, told Reuters, “It [DC] is kind of the Alice in Wonderland of cannabis legalization. It’s like there’s all these rules and regulations that no one follows.”

After last year’s legalization vote, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other city leaders limited pot to home cultivation and consumption after Congress, which has oversight over D.C., blocked pot sales through a spending bill rider.

D.C. council member Brianne Nadeau said:

“This limbo that we’re in because of the congressional rider is untenable.”

Despite the conservative members of Congress leaving pot users out in the cold, true champions of marijuana are becoming do-it-yourself-ers. The 2015 District of Columbia State Fair even started a “Best Bud” marijuana competition. Advocates of complete legalization say that between 500 to 1,000 people are already growing for maximum yield.

Capital City Hydroponics now sells as many starter kits in a day as it did in a typical week before legalization, store clerk John Diango told Reuters. He explained:

“All walks of life come in here, young to old, all classes, all creeds and colors.”

Council members voted unanimously this month to study whether to license private pot clubs.

Proponents say the clubs would provide a place to smoke for people who do not want to smoke in front of their children.

Possession is still prohibited on federal land, which is roughly 20 percent of Washington, DC.

If you’re planning a visit to the nation’s capital, check out this helpful map published last year by the Washington Post to help you avoid smoking on federal land.

Source:

HighTimes