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

[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.

Great, so we should compound nuisance liquor stores with nuisance head shops? At least ABRA and ANCs have some control over liquor store. I’ve seen them force changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Oh is this the vibrant DC culture we should be preserving? Sursum Corda and skanky liquor stores? Sorry, no, good riddance.

For the record, I don’t gaf if you smoke weed. I DO care if you make the block unpleasant to walk down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Oh is this the vibrant DC culture we should be preserving? Sursum Corda and skanky liquor stores? Sorry, no, good riddance.

For the record, I don’t gaf if you smoke weed. I DO care if you make the block unpleasant to walk down.

No, I didn't say that. I said you think that U st or AdMo cookie shops are oh so bad because of a little smell of gank outside and some loiter. They are harmless. Big Ben was an actual problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Oh is this the vibrant DC culture we should be preserving? Sursum Corda and skanky liquor stores? Sorry, no, good riddance.

For the record, I don’t gaf if you smoke weed. I DO care if you make the block unpleasant to walk down.

Carjackings are taking place at record highs in DC. Murders are at their highest rates in decades. And you're crying about grey market shops that sell a plant?



OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Oh is this the vibrant DC culture we should be preserving? Sursum Corda and skanky liquor stores? Sorry, no, good riddance.

For the record, I don’t gaf if you smoke weed. I DO care if you make the block unpleasant to walk down.

No, I didn't say that. I said you think that U st or AdMo cookie shops are oh so bad because of a little smell of gank outside and some loiter. They are harmless. Big Ben was an actual problem.

It’s not harmless though. Fine for you to say but you can’t force people to agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not harmless though. Fine for you to say but you can’t force people to agree with you.

Continue stomping your feet. You're not going to get your way no matter how much you huff and puff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Oh is this the vibrant DC culture we should be preserving? Sursum Corda and skanky liquor stores? Sorry, no, good riddance.

For the record, I don’t gaf if you smoke weed. I DO care if you make the block unpleasant to walk down.

Carjackings are taking place at record highs in DC. Murders are at their highest rates in decades. And you're crying about grey market shops that sell a plant?



OK.

Oh, so I have to live with carjackers, gun violence, AND my neighborhood commercial strip turning into Telegraph Ave ca 1992?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It’s not harmless though. Fine for you to say but you can’t force people to agree with you.

Continue stomping your feet. You're not going to get your way no matter how much you huff and puff.

The DC Cannabis Task Force will have something to say about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Oh is this the vibrant DC culture we should be preserving? Sursum Corda and skanky liquor stores? Sorry, no, good riddance.

For the record, I don’t gaf if you smoke weed. I DO care if you make the block unpleasant to walk down.

Carjackings are taking place at record highs in DC. Murders are at their highest rates in decades. And you're crying about grey market shops that sell a plant?



OK.

Oh, so I have to live with carjackers, gun violence, AND my neighborhood commercial strip turning into Telegraph Ave ca 1992?

I don't understand boomer references. Use something more recent.

[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.

Apparently DC’s new idea is to just make all the gifting stores into medical marijuana stores … but prioritizing giving felons licenses. Awesome! I’m sure that will totally get rid of the low-lifes on the block.

https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/dc-based-gifting-dispensaries-will-be-able-to-get-medical-cannabis-licenses/

>

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Apparently DC’s new idea is to just make all the gifting stores into medical marijuana stores … but prioritizing giving felons licenses. Awesome! I’m sure that will totally get rid of the low-lifes on the block.

https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/dc-based-gifting-dispensaries-will-be-able-to-get-medical-cannabis-licenses/

> previously incarcerated, related to someone incarcerated on drug offenses, have lived in “disproportionately impacted area” for at least 10 years or qualified for a housing voucher, among other factors.

Ambiguous is they are prioritizing only drug prisoners, or all prisoners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Be careful what you wish for.

There were people who think DC’s dark days in the 80s and 90s were great, because they mostly got to do what they wanted. Drugs, violence, government corruption— it was all common and accepted. Everyone else left, if they could, or stayed and suffered. The city’s tax base barely existed and anyone who wanted to actually improve the lives of families and workers in the city got shouted down.

If you think returning to that era is a great idea, I hope you are ready for the side effects— development hitting a wall, property values declining, middle and UM class families fleeing for suburbs, pulling money out if the school system, public works projects falling by the wayside.

But hey— free or practically free weed, and you can smoke it wherever you want. Hope it’s worth it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Be careful what you wish for.

There were people who think DC’s dark days in the 80s and 90s were great, because they mostly got to do what they wanted. Drugs, violence, government corruption— it was all common and accepted. Everyone else left, if they could, or stayed and suffered. The city’s tax base barely existed and anyone who wanted to actually improve the lives of families and workers in the city got shouted down.

If you think returning to that era is a great idea, I hope you are ready for the side effects— development hitting a wall, property values declining, middle and UM class families fleeing for suburbs, pulling money out if the school system, public works projects falling by the wayside.

But hey— free or practically free weed, and you can smoke it wherever you want. Hope it’s worth it!

Oh no, because I can order overprice cookies, pizza slices, or a tee shirt and get a "free" dime bag of weed, the crack epidemic and utter lawlessness will return!!!!11111oneoneeleven

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Be careful what you wish for.

There were people who think DC’s dark days in the 80s and 90s were great, because they mostly got to do what they wanted. Drugs, violence, government corruption— it was all common and accepted. Everyone else left, if they could, or stayed and suffered. The city’s tax base barely existed and anyone who wanted to actually improve the lives of families and workers in the city got shouted down.

If you think returning to that era is a great idea, I hope you are ready for the side effects— development hitting a wall, property values declining, middle and UM class families fleeing for suburbs, pulling money out if the school system, public works projects falling by the wayside.

But hey— free or practically free weed, and you can smoke it wherever you want. Hope it’s worth it!

Oh no, because I can order overprice cookies, pizza slices, or a tee shirt and get a "free" dime bag of weed, the crack epidemic and utter lawlessness will return!!!!11111oneoneeleven

It’s not cause and effect. But when the response to people saying “this unregulated, semi-legal drug activity in my neighborhood is leading to other behaviors that make it hard to raise a family here” is greeted with derision, and when violent crime increases with no response from city government, yes, you will see chunks of the city’s tax base leaving, and an increase in lawlessness.

No one is saying re-criminalize weed. We’re saying: regulate weed sales (or weed “sales”) and address externalities of these businesses. That’s actually not a big ask. That it’s seen as one is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Be careful what you wish for.

There were people who think DC’s dark days in the 80s and 90s were great, because they mostly got to do what they wanted. Drugs, violence, government corruption— it was all common and accepted. Everyone else left, if they could, or stayed and suffered. The city’s tax base barely existed and anyone who wanted to actually improve the lives of families and workers in the city got shouted down.

If you think returning to that era is a great idea, I hope you are ready for the side effects— development hitting a wall, property values declining, middle and UM class families fleeing for suburbs, pulling money out if the school system, public works projects falling by the wayside.

But hey— free or practically free weed, and you can smoke it wherever you want. Hope it’s worth it!

Oh no, because I can order overprice cookies, pizza slices, or a tee shirt and get a "free" dime bag of weed, the crack epidemic and utter lawlessness will return!!!!11111oneoneeleven

It’s not cause and effect. But when the response to people saying “this unregulated, semi-legal drug activity in my neighborhood is leading to other behaviors that make it hard to raise a family here” is greeted with derision, and when violent crime increases with no response from city government, yes, you will see chunks of the city’s tax base leaving, and an increase in lawlessness.

No one is saying re-criminalize weed. We’re saying: regulate weed sales (or weed “sales”) and address externalities of these businesses. That’s actually not a big ask. That it’s seen as one is ridiculous.

Except it IS a big ask, because our city's leadership don't have control over this due to Congressional override.