DC really needs to get pot “gifting” stores under control

Anonymous
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Anonymous wrote:I don't care if they are gifting or officially selling - the real problem with these stores is that they are all cash operations and there have been muggings in the nearby areas because the customers have to carry cash. The feds need to make it straight out legal so that the stores can use banks/credit cards and can thus pay taxes to make up for all of the nuisance they bring into communities.

And I'm not anti-legalization. But these are barely businesses of any sort.


Or, DC could enforce the law and close the illegal “gifting” shops.


But the D.C. government and most people in D.C. don't actually want this. What most people want is for the shops to operate legally, paying taxes and under a regulatory regime. Andy Harris, a dude from Maryland who gets to decide what the D.C. government does because he's in Congress, doesn't want this. So we don't get that.

You want the city to look at a situation where we can have either this decidedly flawed gray zone or no legalization at all and opt for no legalization at all. The city has decided to opt for the gray zone.

It should all change a bit soon, anyway, though, since they're allowing the I-71 shops to get certified under the existing medicinal marijuana regulatory system. Do you have any complaints about how the medicinal shops have operated up to now? Maybe you'll like it better when ABRA is in charge of all non-black-market weed sales in D.C. (there will also still be plenty of totally illegal drug sales regardless, I suspect).


The dubious people running the illegal “gifting” shops are not going to run out and get licensed as dispensaries. DC is still going to have to shut them down. DC isn’t pro prohibition, but we still shut down bars that don’t follow the rules.


Why would they not run out and get licensed as dispensaries? The whole point is that would allow them to keep operating without D.C. shutting them down.


Because they like having an unlicensed cash business, obviously, especially if DC isn’t going to enforce the law against then. Why would they spend the money to get licensed and on compliance?


Because D.C. will enforce the laws against gifting shops that don't get registered. ABRA will be inspecting them for tax, licensing, and health code violations, MPD has already been busting some (though federal prosecutors declined to bring charges in most cases), and the city is very clearly signaling that once they fully open up a path to medicinal licenses, you won't be able to continue to operate in the gray zone. Also, is it completely impossible to think at least some people will do the right thing because they realize they should?


Well, I hope you’re right that DC will take enforcement action against the “gifting” stores that don’t get licensed. The actual medical dispensary in my neighborhood does not seem to create any nuisances.


That's what the Council has indicated, what the mayor's office has indicated, etc. MPD has been taking enforcement action against I-71 gifting stores already, even though that's expressly counter to the policy goals the D.C. Council has supported, so I can't imagine the police will be unwilling to continue that.


Really? What has MPD done?


They’ve relatively recently raided several shops and seized cash: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/10/17/nice-guys-dc-lawsuit/
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't care if they are gifting or officially selling - the real problem with these stores is that they are all cash operations and there have been muggings in the nearby areas because the customers have to carry cash. The feds need to make it straight out legal so that the stores can use banks/credit cards and can thus pay taxes to make up for all of the nuisance they bring into communities.

And I'm not anti-legalization. But these are barely businesses of any sort.


Or, DC could enforce the law and close the illegal “gifting” shops.


But the D.C. government and most people in D.C. don't actually want this. What most people want is for the shops to operate legally, paying taxes and under a regulatory regime. Andy Harris, a dude from Maryland who gets to decide what the D.C. government does because he's in Congress, doesn't want this. So we don't get that.

You want the city to look at a situation where we can have either this decidedly flawed gray zone or no legalization at all and opt for no legalization at all. The city has decided to opt for the gray zone.

It should all change a bit soon, anyway, though, since they're allowing the I-71 shops to get certified under the existing medicinal marijuana regulatory system. Do you have any complaints about how the medicinal shops have operated up to now? Maybe you'll like it better when ABRA is in charge of all non-black-market weed sales in D.C. (there will also still be plenty of totally illegal drug sales regardless, I suspect).


The dubious people running the illegal “gifting” shops are not going to run out and get licensed as dispensaries. DC is still going to have to shut them down. DC isn’t pro prohibition, but we still shut down bars that don’t follow the rules.


Why would they not run out and get licensed as dispensaries? The whole point is that would allow them to keep operating without D.C. shutting them down.


Because they like having an unlicensed cash business, obviously, especially if DC isn’t going to enforce the law against then. Why would they spend the money to get licensed and on compliance?


Because D.C. will enforce the laws against gifting shops that don't get registered. ABRA will be inspecting them for tax, licensing, and health code violations, MPD has already been busting some (though federal prosecutors declined to bring charges in most cases), and the city is very clearly signaling that once they fully open up a path to medicinal licenses, you won't be able to continue to operate in the gray zone. Also, is it completely impossible to think at least some people will do the right thing because they realize they should?


Well, I hope you’re right that DC will take enforcement action against the “gifting” stores that don’t get licensed. The actual medical dispensary in my neighborhood does not seem to create any nuisances.


That's what the Council has indicated, what the mayor's office has indicated, etc. MPD has been taking enforcement action against I-71 gifting stores already, even though that's expressly counter to the policy goals the D.C. Council has supported, so I can't imagine the police will be unwilling to continue that.


Really? What has MPD done?


They’ve relatively recently raided several shops and seized cash: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/10/17/nice-guys-dc-lawsuit/


Interesting, thanks for that. But seems like little action for the past 2 years …
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