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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. I am really grossed out by the “gifting” stores popping up everywhere with their ugly storefronts, crime, and loiterers outside smoking weed and acting like they own the sidewalk. The DC council really needs to get on top of this and required them to be licensed by ABRA, inspected for dangerous products packaged like candy, and allow ANCs to protest and get settlement agreements about crowd management, smoking in front, and safety. Plus there should not be multiple shops on one block. Does the Council want DC to be a sketchy version of Amsterdam?

DC can't regulate it. Congress does not allow sales in DC.

DC can absolutely regulate it. Everyone knows they are distributing weed inside those stores.

They can not regulate it. They can force it back into the open air markets, but that just makes it more likely your kids will have accidental fentynl poisoning. Would be really stupid. What would be great is if they could actually regulate and ensure that people weren’t being poisoned.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who thinks these gifting shops are no big deal clearly does not live close to any of them. We have one a block away from us that people line up for in the morning and just stand around smoking, sometimes drinking too, until it opens, and then it's just party time for the rest of the day. Fairly certain there is some drug dealing going on as well (not marijuana). And it's right next to a bus stop, so you can't wait for the bus without walking through a cloud of pot smoke and having to step around people who are high/drunk/simply do not care. The men catcall or say derogatory things when you walk by. If I'm with my kid, we walk on the other side of the street and I'll take her to a bus stop three blocks away because I don't want her around that.

And now there's another one opening up not far away. It feels like there is no enforcement. A group of neighbors, including us, have raised this issue at ANC meetings when reps from DCPD have come to discuss community safety issues, and we've been told there's nothing they can do unless they have evidence of illegal behavior. Well, I'm not going to go scout out this store and try to collect evidence of the illegal drug deals or public alcohol consumption going on, because I'm not stupid. Should that be the cops job? What the hell?

It absolutely feels like DC has just decided that a certain level of this kind of "lifestyle" crime is acceptable, at least in certain areas. And Republicans in Congress are probably happy about it because it feeds into their narrative about how Democratic-led cities are going down the toilet. Well, I'm a Democrat but this is not acceptable, and if the mayor, City Council, and police department can't figure out what to do about it, I'll be voting with my feet by leaving because I do not want to raise a child in a place where no one seems to give a damn.

[Anonymous]

It will all be legal in a few years anyhow. It should be regulated and taxed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. I am really grossed out by the “gifting” stores popping up everywhere with their ugly storefronts, crime, and loiterers outside smoking weed and acting like they own the sidewalk. The DC council really needs to get on top of this and required them to be licensed by ABRA, inspected for dangerous products packaged like candy, and allow ANCs to protest and get settlement agreements about crowd management, smoking in front, and safety. Plus there should not be multiple shops on one block. Does the Council want DC to be a sketchy version of Amsterdam?

DC can't regulate it. Congress does not allow sales in DC.

DC can absolutely regulate it. Everyone knows they are distributing weed inside those stores.

They can not regulate it. They can force it back into the open air markets, but that just makes it more likely your kids will have accidental fentynl poisoning. Would be really stupid. What would be great is if they could actually regulate and ensure that people weren’t being poisoned.

Of course they can regulate it. I’m not sure what grounds you have to make that claim. At a minimum, existing laws allow DC to take action against smoking in front and selling edibles packaged like candy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who thinks these gifting shops are no big deal clearly does not live close to any of them. We have one a block away from us that people line up for in the morning and just stand around smoking, sometimes drinking too, until it opens, and then it's just party time for the rest of the day. Fairly certain there is some drug dealing going on as well (not marijuana). And it's right next to a bus stop, so you can't wait for the bus without walking through a cloud of pot smoke and having to step around people who are high/drunk/simply do not care. The men catcall or say derogatory things when you walk by. If I'm with my kid, we walk on the other side of the street and I'll take her to a bus stop three blocks away because I don't want her around that.

And now there's another one opening up not far away. It feels like there is no enforcement. A group of neighbors, including us, have raised this issue at ANC meetings when reps from DCPD have come to discuss community safety issues, and we've been told there's nothing they can do unless they have evidence of illegal behavior. Well, I'm not going to go scout out this store and try to collect evidence of the illegal drug deals or public alcohol consumption going on, because I'm not stupid. Should that be the cops job? What the hell?

It absolutely feels like DC has just decided that a certain level of this kind of "lifestyle" crime is acceptable, at least in certain areas. And Republicans in Congress are probably happy about it because it feeds into their narrative about how Democratic-led cities are going down the toilet. Well, I'm a Democrat but this is not acceptable, and if the mayor, City Council, and police department can't figure out what to do about it, I'll be voting with my feet by leaving because I do not want to raise a child in a place where no one seems to give a damn.

Yep. The DC council in it’s “progressive” way has decided that certain DC neighborhoods can become a low-rent red light district. (Remember how they wanted to legalize prostitution too?)

The new legislation to lower the barriers to becoming a medical dispensary is possibly a good move, because dispensaries will be more closely regulated. But given that they are literally prioritizing giving licenses to criminals, it’s going to be a bigger lift for ANCs and ABRA (now ABCA) to keep a lif on things. Also, nothing requires “gifting” shops to get the dispensary license, so DC still needs to use other tools to control them.

[Anonymous]

Boy do we have a real crop of puritan crusaders on DCUM. Why do you live in DC just to complain about our culture?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boy do we have a real crop of puritan crusaders on DCUM. Why do you live in DC just to complain about our culture?

Oh, is it “our culture” to have low-rent headshops pop up on every corner, with clouds of pot smoke and loiterers? I don’t think so.

[Anonymous]

I love the gifting shops. It wouldn't surprise me if this post came from one of the "medical marijuana" shop owners. I don't see any of the loafers and malcontents at the gifting shops I use - which are actually quite nice, require ID and all have a bouncer at the front door. In DC, you have your choice - the fiction of gifting or the fiction of medical need. Or we could just get Congress off our backs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You buy an item like a t shirt or art print, and the weed is a “gift.” It circumvents the law. Rec weed was voted in years ago, but DC has never implemented it. So the workaround is to have shops that gift weed, and no local enforcement. Gotta love living in DC!

The gift thing isn’t really a work around. It doesn’t make it legal. It’s just a myth and sort of tradition, and I think the city supports it because it keeps the product out of sight.

It doesn’t keep the product out of sight, though. People hang around these stores and smoke in the stores and out front. I think the weird work around contributes to a sense of lawlessness, like “we’re getting away with something” that makes it worse.

I’m from Colorado where sales are legal, businesses have to be licensed, and the state collect tax revenue from sales. It’s much better— weed stores are like liquor stores, they are very conservative about enforcement. They check IDs when you enter, they discourage smoking in front of the building, especially in pedestrian heavy areas, etc. It’s truly legalized and treated like alcohol, which means it’s regulated like alcohol too.

DC’s “arrangement” sucks. I’d honestly rather have it be entirely illegal than this, though I support legalization generally.

Honestly you’ve just never lived in a neighborhood with a nuisance liquor store. Trust me, even tightly regulated liquor stores can be a huge problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. I am really grossed out by the “gifting” stores popping up everywhere with their ugly storefronts, crime, and loiterers outside smoking weed and acting like they own the sidewalk. The DC council really needs to get on top of this and required them to be licensed by ABRA, inspected for dangerous products packaged like candy, and allow ANCs to protest and get settlement agreements about crowd management, smoking in front, and safety. Plus there should not be multiple shops on one block. Does the Council want DC to be a sketchy version of Amsterdam?

Nobody cares. If you don't like it, cry to your ANC commissioner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
DC can absolutely regulate it. Everyone knows they are distributing weed inside those stores.

Nobody cares...except for you. MPD is not going to arrest anyone for weed. Period.

Nobody said you had to like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, I'm a Democrat but this is not acceptable, and if the mayor, City Council, and police department can't figure out what to do about it, I'll be voting with my feet by leaving because I do not want to raise a child in a place where no one seems to give a damn.

Good. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the gifting shops. It wouldn't surprise me if this post came from one of the "medical marijuana" shop owners. I don't see any of the loafers and malcontents at the gifting shops I use - which are actually quite nice, require ID and all have a bouncer at the front door. In DC, you have your choice - the fiction of gifting or the fiction of medical need. Or we could just get Congress off our backs.

Me too. There's so much competition amongst the stores on U St that you can literally get free weed from each of them. Who would have ever thought?

The prices are good and the product quality is top notch. All the whiners in this thread can suck a fat one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You buy an item like a t shirt or art print, and the weed is a “gift.” It circumvents the law. Rec weed was voted in years ago, but DC has never implemented it. So the workaround is to have shops that gift weed, and no local enforcement. Gotta love living in DC!

The gift thing isn’t really a work around. It doesn’t make it legal. It’s just a myth and sort of tradition, and I think the city supports it because it keeps the product out of sight.

It doesn’t keep the product out of sight, though. People hang around these stores and smoke in the stores and out front. I think the weird work around contributes to a sense of lawlessness, like “we’re getting away with something” that makes it worse.

I’m from Colorado where sales are legal, businesses have to be licensed, and the state collect tax revenue from sales. It’s much better— weed stores are like liquor stores, they are very conservative about enforcement. They check IDs when you enter, they discourage smoking in front of the building, especially in pedestrian heavy areas, etc. It’s truly legalized and treated like alcohol, which means it’s regulated like alcohol too.

DC’s “arrangement” sucks. I’d honestly rather have it be entirely illegal than this, though I support legalization generally.

Honestly you’ve just never lived in a neighborhood with a nuisance liquor store. Trust me, even tightly regulated liquor stores can be a huge problem.

Lol. I think these pearl clutchers here flipping out over some cookie & weed shop in AdMo or U St would lose their minds if they ever saw Big Ben Liquor store back when Sursum Corda was still mostly standing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love the gifting shops. It wouldn't surprise me if this post came from one of the "medical marijuana" shop owners. I don't see any of the loafers and malcontents at the gifting shops I use - which are actually quite nice, require ID and all have a bouncer at the front door. In DC, you have your choice - the fiction of gifting or the fiction of medical need. Or we could just get Congress off our backs.

Nope, definitely not involved in the pot industry in any way. And of course the best way to get the “gifting” shops shut down is to pretend they aren’t a nuisance. If they were discreet, did not have people smoking and loitering out front, didn’t sell dangerous products, and weren’t tacky eyesores - I wouldn’t care.