A new medical marijuana dispensary, Anacostia Organics, has opened on January 24 in Southeast D.C. to provide a new level of cannabis access to the residents.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was present at the opening event of the dispensary said, “Sometimes we can laugh and giggle about marijuana, right? But it’s big business.”
Supporting more access to medical marijuana in D.C., Bowser is also seeking Congressional approval of a bill that would regulate recreational marijuana sales in the city.
“We have to educate, train and inspire more D.C. residents to start their own businesses, hire D.C. residents and let D.C. dollars circulate in Washington, D.C.,” said Bowser.
Medical marijuana dispensary is first of its kind in Southeast DC https://t.co/bQ0AFoMzFe pic.twitter.com/TEoHFT8vwN
— Washington Informer (@DC_Informer) January 24, 2019
About 30 percent of residents with registered prescriptions live in Wards 7 and 8, as per the D.C. Department of Health. “We took this to the mayor [and council] and said, ‘This is an opportunity for you to correct this and make this accessible to every resident of Washington, D.C., not just those west of the river.’ And it happened,” said Linda Greene who spent five years to get her new business to take off.
Following the ribbon cutting, Bowser stressed that her priority is maintaining racial equity in developing the cannabis industry. “We have time to be thoughtful about how we set it up, learn from other jurisdictions, what worked and what didn’t work, and propose the most equitable plan possible,” said Bowser.
As of December 27, 2018, over 5,800 patients, majority of which being men, have applied for medical marijuana registration cards, according to the Department of Health.