Medical Marijuana Measure Before D.C. Council

Nine of the 13 members of the District of Columbia Council have cosponsored legislation to establish five medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city, the Washington Post reported Jan. 20.

The measure would not allow residents to grow the drug for personal use, instead requiring medical-marijuana patients to make purchases from government-approved dispensaries. The legislation prohibits dispensaries from being established within 1,000 feet of schools or youth centers.

D.C. residents voted in 1998 to allow medical use of marijuana, but the U.S. Congress only recently lifted a ban on implementing a medical-marijuana law in the city.

If approved by the council and signed by Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. would join 14 states that have legalized medical marijuana.

Part of the challenge for D.C. is figuring out where the drug could be grown in the city, since shipping it across the border with Virginia or Maryland would be illegal.