First Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Washington, D.C. Opens This Week

Capital City Care, the first medical marijuana dispensary in Washington, D.C., opened this week. It is located about one mile north of the U.S. Capitol, according to The Huffington Post.

Currently only nine people are authorized to buy medical marijuana in the nation’s capital. Seven of them are registered to receive two ounces every month from the dispensary. The city has licensed three dispensaries and six marijuana cultivation centers.

Marijuana is still illegal under federal law. Executives of Capital City Care say they hope the city’s strict regulations about who can use marijuana will shield them from federal prosecution.  Patients must have one of a few qualifying diseases, such as AIDS, multiple sclerosis or glaucoma. A doctor must make a formal recommendation that the patient use marijuana, which must be certified by the Department of Health. Patients submit an application and pay a license fee.

“This is really an exhibit in how to do medical marijuana in a focused and sort of clinical kind of way,” said Scott Morgan, Capital City Care’s Communications Director. “And for that reason, we hope that the outcomes we’re achieving and people we’re helping, it sort of stands for itself. When people look at what we’re doing here, they’ll agree that we’re doing the right thing.”