Medical Marijuana Information Session Tonight (September 9)

At National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle, 7:00-9:00 PM.
Three Dispensaries Are Now Open! Become an Informed DC Medical Cannabis Patient.

Are you a potential medical cannabis patient in DC but would like to know more about the program?

Please come to a FREE informational meeting hosted by the DC Chapter of Americans for Safe Access to learn about medical cannabis and how to become a patient.

We'll be discussing the laws and procedures for patients to get registered, how to talk to your doctor about becoming a medical cannabis patient, and much more. There will also be an opportunity to talk directly with the three dispensaries--they will all have representatives at the meeting.

Background: DC residents overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana initiative in 1998 but Congress blocked any action until 2009; in fact, Congress initially prevented the votes from even being counted. The DC Council began drafting a bill in late 2009 and held a public hearing in February, 2010, where Dr. Pierre Vigilance (the head of the Department of Health) and about 40 other witnesses (including me) all testified in support. The Council enacted the law--unanimously--in May, 2010. Since then the Department of Health has been moving, albeit slowly, to implement the law.

DC's law is probably stricter than any of the 20 medical marijuana states, because the Council is afraid of further federal intervention. Patients must be DC residents, must register with the Department of Health and get an ID card, and then must get a recommendation for medical cannabis from a DC doctor, after which they can obtain no more than two ounces a month from a dispensary-- "growing your own" is not allowed. Moreover, there are only four qualifying medical conditions--HIV/AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and muscle spasms such as those caused by MS--although the DOH can add more conditions to the list.

Unfortunately the law comes too late for Jonathan Magbie, the young quadriplegic who smoked "weed" to ease the pain of the injury--caused by a drunk driver--that paralyzed him. In 2004 he was sentenced to 10 days in the DC jail for first-offense marijuana possession, sent to jail without the respirator that helped him breathe, and died five days later.