When a Republican who helps count votes in Congress decides to talk about cannabis, the room gets quiet.
That is what will happen on November 17 when Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania takes the stage at the Cannabis Capital & Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

It is not exactly the crowd that packs your typical dispensary event, but if cannabis ever needed a seat at the grown-ups’ table, this is it.

Reschenthaler is the Chief Deputy Whip of the U.S. House of Representatives, a position that helps keep legislation moving and ensures party votes line up. The Whip team counts heads, builds coalitions, and influences what actually reaches the floor. If someone in that role is talking about cannabis finance, it means the topic is entering serious political territory.

A conservative voice talking capital and cannabis

A Navy JAG veteran and former judge, Reschenthaler is no stranger to rules and structure. His interest in cannabis centers on how the industry can function within those rules. In 2022, he co-sponsored the Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses (CLIMB) Act, a bipartisan bill designed to open traditional lending and investment channels and allow U.S. cannabis companies to list on national stock exchanges.

The bill treats cannabis as a legitimate business sector that deserves access to credit, banking, and capital. It is not about culture; it is about economic infrastructure. For entrepreneurs, that means cheaper capital, safer payroll, and a shot at competing with large global operators.

The summit that could shift the conversation

The D.C. event, hosted by IgniteIt in partnership with the U.S. Cannabis Roundtable (USCR), brings together regulators, investors, and executives from across the cannabis supply chain. The lineup includes Charlie Bachtell of Cresco Labs, George Archos of Verano, Kim Rivers of Trulieve, and Boris Jordan of Curaleaf, among others.

With USCR’s help, the program focuses on federal rescheduling, capital markets, and institutional investment—the levers that can push cannabis finance from state-by-state patchwork into federal recognition.

Reschenthaler’s role is expected to center on institutional capital, senior exchange listings, and easing federal banking restrictions. For operators and investors who still move money in cash, that conversation could not come sooner.

Why it matters

For years, federal discussions about cannabis focused on legalization and criminal justice reform. Those debates still matter, but the next phase is about the money—how businesses raise it, where they keep it, and how they grow.

A member of House leadership addressing those issues signals a cultural and financial shift. It shows that cannabis has moved from the margins to the mainstream, and that people in power are beginning to treat it like any other regulated market.

The takeaway

A decade ago, the idea of a Republican Chief Deputy Whip speaking at a cannabis event in Washington would have sounded impossible. This fall, it is happening.

If Reschenthaler uses his platform to push the conversation on investment and access to capital, he will not just be talking policy—he will be talking about the future of the cannabis economy.

• Event: Cannabis Capital & Policy Summit
• Date: November 17, 2025
• Location: Hilton Washington DC National Mall at The Wharf
• Presented by: IgniteIt × U.S. Cannabis Roundtable

Photo by Harold Mendoza on Unsplash

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At a recent legislative meeting by the Washington, D.C.’s Council of the District of Columbia meeting on April 2, the council unanimously approved the “Medical Cannabis Patient Card Extension 4/20 Medical Cannabis Sales Tax Holiday Week Emergency Amendment Act of 2024,” which addresses three primary changes by amending the DC Official Code Title 7.

First, it makes medical cannabis patient and caregiver cards now valid for six years (previously it lasted only two years before requiring renewal).

Second, it provides the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) with “emergency closure authority.” This gives the agency power to close unlicensed cannabis retailers and seize “any” cannabis products if it poses a threat to the safety of the public.

And finally, it extends the currently existing medical cannabis tax holiday (April 20-24, which was approved in 2022) to now last between April 15 to April 28.

According to councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, the measure is essential to the success of the district’s medical cannabis industry. “The popular tax holiday is critical to the district’s effort to attract qualifying patients back to the legal market as well as sustainable and viable medical cannabis program,” McDuffie said.

Prior to the measure being passed, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote about pending legislation being considered by the council, urging them to consider the tax holiday extension. “This change will improve patient access to the program and would make the District consistent with Maryland’s six-year medical cannabis patient card,” Bowser wrote. “The bill further supports our local industry by implementing a Medical Cannabis Tax Holiday, which temporarily suspends sales taxes for purchases made at licensed medical cannabis dispensaries.”

She added that approving the ABCA’s power to shut down illegal cannabis stores is crucial. “Most importantly, this measure explicitly authorizes the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration to close unlicensed cannabis retail stores,” Bowser explained. “As we saw in the recent tragic murder inside an unlicensed cannabis dispensary, these unlicensed stores pose a direct threat to our communities and we must take strong action to shut down bad actors.”

The murder that Bowser referenced includes the death of local rapper, Phil Da Phuture, who was working at a dispensary when a robbery took place. Although he cooperated with the robbers, he was shot, and later died at a nearby hospital.

During the meeting, council members said that there are approximately 200 illegal dispensaries operating through Washington, D.C., and only 70 of which have applied for a license.

The council also chose to veto a measure that would have changed zoning rules for placing dispensaries near schools, and discussed another measure that seeks to revisit the authority of the ABCA.

Currently, dispensaries must be located at least 300 feet away from schools or recreational areas that children frequent, although medical cannabis dispensaries are exempt from this if they stand in an industrial or commercial area. “This emergency legislation would remove that exception and prohibit all medical cannabis retailers from locating within 300 feet of schools or recreation centers,” said councilmember Brooke Pinto, who added that if passed, it would “…allow affected applicants to change their locations without negatively impacting their locations.”

Only two dispensaries would be affected by the measure if it was passed, but McDuffie explained his disapproval. “It is tough work to find a location,” McDuffie said, adding that qualifying real estate in Washington, D.C. “…is not readily accessible when it comes to what they are required to use and the restrictions we put on them in terms of where they can locate. So I can’t support this.”

Washington D.C. passed an initiative to remove criminal penalties for minor cannabis offenses in July 2014, which was followed by the passage of an initiative to tax and regulate adult-use cannabis in November 2014, which became effective in February 2015.

Earlier this year in January, the council passed emergency legislation that cracks down on illegal dispensaries relying on the “gifting” loophole to make sales. “This gap in the law, if not fixed, will render the onramp meaningless, allow unlicensed establishments that do not apply to keep on operating, and significantly harm the good actors that have applied,” said councilmember Charles Allen in a January council meeting.

The ABCA can now “issue warnings, fines, and cease-and-desist orders to unlicensed businesses that have not applied to the medical cannabis program,” according to a report from the DCist.

Unfortunately, a local illegal dispensary called Kaliiva which had already started its transition from operating illegally to applying for a legal license recently raided earlier last month. Kaliiva was one of the first illegal dispensaries to receive a placard, according to The Outlaw Report, which is the first step toward receiving a license. The DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), as well as the Department of Health, and the DC Licensing and Consumer Protection, have the power to conduct inspections on their own accord, despite what the ABCA has established.

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A man who stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, and smoked weed on top of broken furniture in Sen. Jeffrey Merkley’s (D-Oregon) office was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison on Thursday. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a press release on Leap Day, Feb. 29, describing the man’s sentences. Brandon Craig Fellows, 29, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden to 37 months in prison, plus an additional five months for a contempt of court charge. In total, Fellows was sentenced to 42 months.

Many people heeded the call to make their way to Washington, D.C. shortly after the 2020 election. “Big protest in D.C. on January 6th,” Donald Trump tweeted on Dec. 19, 2020. “Be there, will be wild!” Weeks later, thousands of supporters gathered at the U.S. Capitol building in an event that left five dead within a 36-hour time period.

Days after Jan. 6, 2021, Fellows posted on social media, “Brought my heart joy to see these members terrified for their lives. For what they have done and are doing to this country I hope they live in constant fear.”

“I have no regrets. I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t break anything,” Fellows told Bloomberg, five days after storming the Capitol. “I did trespass though, I guess.”

Then on Jan. 16, 2021, Fellows was arrested by FBI agents in New York. The investigation involved the FBI’s Washington and New York field offices, with assistance provided by the New York State Police, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Fellows was convicted on Aug. 31, 2023, of obstruction of an official proceeding, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building, and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building. The DOJ also says that Fellows heckled two U.S. Capitol police officers while he was inside.

What Happened That Day

Fellows made and wore a fake beard out of red yarn, a hat in the shape of a knight’s helmet, sunglasses, and carried a “Trump 2020” flag and a trash can lid that he says he used as a shield. Per federal court documents, on Jan 6. 2021, Fellows stationed himself at the Ellipse near the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally and listen to Donald Trump’s speech. 

Fellows followed the massive crowd toward the Capitol building, approaching the building from the west side and fought his way to the Upper West Terrace. From his position, in front of thousands of Capitol stormers on the West Plaza and the West Lawn, Fellows posted a video.

“Oh bro, we’re gonna get gassed soon,” Fellows says in the video. I heard windows just break.”

Fellows made his way around, then filmed/incriminated another man breaking down the Parliamentary Door with a cane.

Fellows crawled through a broken window at about 2:52 p.m. and walked through the Senate Wing Door, waving a “Trump 2020” flag. Once inside, Fellows stood on top of broken furniture and waved the flag some more. He walked into a congressional conference room and then walked across the hall to the private office of Sen. Jeffrey Merkley. 

“I walked in and there’s just a whole bunch of people lighting up in some Oregon room… they were smoking a bunch of weed in there,” he later told a reporter. Fellows was photographed smoking marijuana in Merkley’s office with his feet up on a desk. He next went to the Crypt and walked around. He eventually left the Capitol about 3:45 p.m…

While inside the office, Fellows sat in a chair, put his feet up on a conference table, and smoked some weed. Another stormer, who was live streaming, asked Fellows, “What is your message?” Fellows replied, “Man, oh man, we got pissed. We ripped it out of the hands of these police officers,” followed by a round of laughter.

This case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.

So far, over 1,313 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, with over 469 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony. The investigation remains ongoing.

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The Washington, D.C. District Council on Tuesday approved a measure that establishes new penalties for cannabis gifting shops. The bill, which could go into effect as soon as this week, is designed to regulate cannabis businesses that have refused attempts to bring them into the city’s medical marijuana program.

Recreational marijuana was legalized in the nation’s capital with the passage of Initiative 71, a 2014 ballot measure that made it legal to possess, use, cultivate and give away small amounts of marijuana. Since then, city leaders have attempted to legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis dispensaries but their efforts have been thwarted by Congress, which has the authority to modify or overturn bills passed by the district council.

The lack of regulation has led to dozens of so-called marijuana gifting shops opening in Washington, D.C. Under the gifting shop business model, customers buy inexpensive merchandise such as stickers at inflated prices and receive what is ostensibly a gift of cannabis in return.

In 2022, the district council passed a measure to expand the city’s medical marijuana program by lifting the cap on the number of cannabis dispensaries allowed to open in the city. The expansion also allowed the city’s weed gifting shops to apply to become licensed medical marijuana businesses.

The law was intended to give unlicensed businesses a path to legitimacy and thus rein in the city’s unregulated weed market. Under the law, weed gifting shops that do not apply for the program or are unable to meet its requirements are subject to civil enforcement measures. But more than a year after the 2022 law was passed, confusion over who has the authority and responsibility to issue sanctions under the legislation has meant the law has not been meaningfully enforced since it was passed.

Emergency Measure Approved By Council

To address the proliferation of weed gifting shops, District Councilmember Charles Allen introduced emergency legislation that tasks the city’s Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) with regulating cannabis businesses. Under the bill, the ABCA has the authority to issue warnings, fines and cease-and-desist letters to unlicensed weed shops. 

The ABCA began accepting applications from unlicensed businesses to join the city’s medical marijuana program in November. According to Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, whose duties as the chair of the council’s business and economic development committee include oversight of the ABCA, 37 unlicensed pot shops have submitted applications so far.

The idea of issuing heavy fines to unlicensed cannabis businesses in Washington, D.C. can be controversial, even among the members of the district council. Some city leaders are worried that enforcement efforts will harm the mostly Black and Brown owners of local businesses who are filling the void left by Congress’ refusal to allow recreational marijuana shops. But with a way to enter the legal medical marijuana market now in effect, the council is more willing to tighten enforcement.

“This gap in the law, if not fixed, will render the onramp meaningless, allow unlicensed establishments that do not apply to keep on operating, and significantly harm the good actors that have applied,” Allen said during Tuesday’s legislative council meeting, according to a report from online news site The DCist.

The bill approved by the council on Tuesday also gives the ABCA the authority to issue fines to the owners of commercial properties that rent to unlicensed cannabis after being warned about the violation. 

The measure also gives the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions a role in the licensing process, including the ability to file protest notices with the ABCA about unlicensed shops in their jurisdictions applying for medical marijuana business licenses. The provision is similar to the regulation of the city’s bars, restaurants and liquor stores, which are also subject to such review by the advisory groups. Some Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and liquor license holders have expressed frustration to city leaders that the “gifting shops do not undergo public scrutiny,” according to the report from The DCist report.

The district council approved Allen’s emergency bill at its legislative meeting on Tuesday. The measure will become law and go into effect as soon as Democratic Mayor Muriel signs it.

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Cannabis companies doing legal business in their state are one step closer to potentially opening accounts with federally-insured banks after the latest version of the SAFER Banking Act (formerly SAFE banking) cleared the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday 14-9.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act will now move to the Senate Floor for where it faces several more hurdles and potential amendments before a full vote can be made. If passed by the Senate it moves to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

“Cannabis banking is just one part of the necessary conversation about marijuana policy. There is still much work to be done to acknowledge and mend the damage done by the war on drugs, work to make sure everyone – including our veterans – has access to the medicine they need and allow medical and scientific research on cannabis,” said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio in a press release.

SAFER Banking would provide much-needed legal protections for financial institutions to serve businesses in the currently cash-dependent cannabis trade. Cannabis is presently considered a Schedule 1 substance in the eyes of the federal government, which means any bank that wishes to be federally insured cannot do business with cannabis companies, regardless of the laws in that company’s home state. If the Senate passes the SAFER Banking Act, it will allow cannabis businesses to not only open bank accounts, but take out small business loans, accept debit cards as payment and provide easier pathways for their employees to get home loans etc. 

The latest language of the bill was submitted for consideration last week written and led by senators Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Steve Daines, R-Mont.; Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.; and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., as well as Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

“This legislation will help make our communities and small businesses safer by giving legal cannabis businesses access to traditional financial institutions, including bank accounts and small business loans,” the senators said in a joint statement. “It also prevents federal bank regulators from ordering a bank or credit union to close an account based on reputational risk.”

If passed, SAFER Banking may provide a much needed lifeline for an industry forced to do business in cash which puts thousands of budtenders, delivery drivers, growers and other ancillary cannabis sector employees at risk of violent crime. It would also provide much-needed capital for businesses currently forced to operate using their own money or capital secured through private sources.

Seven previous versions of the bill were passed by the House of Representatives but have thus far been unable to progress to a full Senate vote until Wednesday’s developments, though the bill still faces heavy opposition from Senate Republicans and from the GOP-controlled House if passed by the Senate. Opponents of the bill said, among the usual laundry list of concerns about cannabis, that the language of the bill only further serviced the wealthy and did nothing for criminal justice reform. 

“This bill will make life safer for bankers, for businesses and financial institutions, some of whom have been profiting from the cannabis industry illegally for years, which is ironic given many of the regular folks who illegally sold or used cannabis are sitting in jail cells right now,” said Senator Raphael Warnock, D – GA.

The advancement of the SAFER Banking Act marks the latest in a series of movements at the federal level concerning cannabis, including a recommendation by the Department of Health and Human Services that cannabis be rescheduled from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3. That decision has now been handed off to the DEA to weigh in on. A congressional report released last week said the DEA was “likely” to recommend the same, though an additional bill has also been introduced in the Senate, which if passed would require congressional approval before cannabis can be rescheduled. 

All this comes on the heels of a potential government shutdown sparked by a congressional standoff regarding a new spending bill that could further delay progress on all of these matters. Senator Schumer said he would work to bring the SAFER Banking Act to a floor vote as soon as possible where it requires 60 votes to move on to the House of Representatives.

“Regardless of how you feel about states’ efforts to legalize marijuana, this bipartisan bill is necessary – it will make it safer for legal cannabis businesses and service providers to operate in their communities and protect their workers,” said Sen. Brown. “Through bipartisan work we have been able to find language that addresses both Republicans’ and Democrats’ concerns.”

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The White House is putting a new meaning to its name. A white substance found in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue reportedly tested positive for cocaine, according to a preliminary field test, The Guardian reports. From fast food chain bathrooms to childhood bedrooms over Christmas, the infamous “white powder” (and we’re not talking about snow) tends to show up where authorities, whether it’s the federal government or someone’s parents, are going to make a stink about it. This time it landed in the Executive Mansion.

The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how the drugs got into the President’s home. Mind you, although Biden may be open-minded to psychedelic research, before you start any rumors, the alleged cocaine was found in a reference library “in an area accessible to tour groups, not in any particular West Wing office,” The Associated Press reports. So, most likely, some tourist ballsy (or stupid) enough to snort a line in the White House is responsible rather than anyone in the federal branch of government. 

The discovery of the substance led to an elevated security alert and a brief evacuation of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue after authorities discovered it during a routine inspection. At the time of its discovery, President Joe Joe Biden was at Camp David, a country retreat for presidents hidden in the woods of Maryland. The president and first lady Jill Biden returned to the White House on Tuesday morning shortly after the discovery. 

A spokesman for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, told The Washington Post that there is “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how the substance entered the White House. Authorities note that it did not pose a threat. Another official familiar with the investigation said that the amount found was of small quality. So, anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of drug use can deduce that the alleged cocaine was for personal use, not distribution. This gives credibility to the explanation that a tourist probably thought it would be cool (but dangerous) to do some white lines in the White House.

If so, it’s certainly not the first time a civilian used a visit to the White House as an opportunity to get high. The British actor Erkan Mustafa said he did a line of cocaine and smoked some cannabis while visiting the presidential resident during first lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign, The Guardian reports. Considering that The War on Drugs was a generally minor component of federal law-enforcement efforts until Ronald Reagan’s presidency, in part fueled by Nancy’s “Just Say No” campaign, which was a privately funded effort to educate children on the dangers of drug use, it’s hard to be too mad at Mustafa for seeking the thrill of doing drugs in the White House at the time (although please do not try it yourself, we don’t want you to go to prison). The feds have locked up enough people for drugs; after Reagan moved into the White House in 1981, his focus on drug penalties led to increased incarcerations for nonviolent drug offenses, from 50,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997.

Iconic stoner Snoop Dogg said he’d smoked weed in a bathroom in 2013, and fellow famous cannabis enthusiast Willie Nelson smoked a joint on the White House roof during the presidency of Jimmy Carter. 

Late last year, Biden announced he will pardon people with federal convictions for simple possession of cannabis in addition to directing General Merrick B. Garland and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to begin the process of reviewing the classification of cannabis at the federal level. As a reminder, according to the Feds, the branch of government associated with the White House, cocaine is a Schedule II drug, while cannabis is still Schedule I. Meaning, despite all we know about the benefits of marijuana, under federal law, it’s more dangerous than white lines. 

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Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted this week to block a bill that would have directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct research into cannabis as a treatment for chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In a procedural vote on Wednesday, the Senate declined to advance the Veterans Affairs Medicinal Cannabis Research Bill (S. 326) with a vote of 57-42, falling short of the 60 votes needed to continue debate on the measure.

The bipartisan legislation was introduced by Montana Democrat Senator Jon Tester earlier this year with co-sponsorship by Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska. In February, the bill was approved by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee with a vote during a closed-door session. 

Under the bill, the VA would be required to conduct a large-scale observational study that evaluates the safety and efficacy of cannabis as a treatment for PTSD and chronic pain. An identical bill (H.R. 1003) sponsored by California Democratic Representative Lou Correa is also pending in the House of Representatives, with Republican Representative Jack Bergman signed on as a co-sponsor.

The clinical study would explore the positive and negative health outcomes of cannabis use by military veterans, including whether using marijuana reduces the use of alcohol or opiates. The study would also investigate other aspects of medicinal cannabis use, including pain intensity, sleep quality, agitation, and overall quality of life. Once the study is complete, the legislation requires the VA to report back to Congress on the results and the feasibility of conducting clinical trials.

Vote Blocks New Research For Veterans’ Health

When he introduced the bill earlier this year, Tester, the chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement that the legislation would give military veterans new choices to manage their health care.

“Our nation’s veterans deserve options when it comes to treating the wounds of war, which is why VA needs to have a better understanding of how medicinal cannabis plays a role in their healing,” he said. “Our bipartisan bill ensures VA is listening to the growing number of veterans who find critical relief from alternative treatments like medicinal cannabis, while working to empower veterans in making safe and informed decisions about their health.”

A total of 41 GOP senators voted to block the bipartisan bill, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer then changing his vote to “no” in order to keep the bill alive under the Senate’s rules. 

In a social media post, Tester wrote that “41 Senate Republicans just chose partisan political games over providing our nation’s veterans their hard-earned benefits and care. 41 Senate Republicans are telling the men and women who have defended our country that their government doesn’t value their sacrifices.”

“Not only are they blocking VA from *researching* medicinal cannabis as an alternative treatment for veterans dealing with chronic pain or PTSD—they’re blocking improvements to veterans homeownership efforts, community-based support, outreach, and more,” he continued. “It’s totally unacceptable.”

In a floor speech before the vote, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, one of the eight Republican senators who voted to advance the cannabis bill, said the measure “is an effort to make certain that veterans are not doing something that is harmful to them and to help them make an informed decision,” according to a report from the Military Times.

But the senators backing the bill on Wednesday were not enough to keep the measure moving forward. GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas said that the decision to block the cannabis research bill came after “spirited debate” during a Senate Republican policy lunch before the vote.

Cornyn told CNN that there were concerns among GOP senators about the methodology of the clinical trial authorized by the bill because “this retrospective study would be done strictly through volunteers who would come forward and talk about their experience with marijuana and PTSD,” and “it depends on people to self-select and we don’t know how that would skew the results.”

The senator also said that Republicans were not given “assurances” that they would be given the opportunity to offer amendments to the legislation, adding that there were concerns about whether the bill would be taken up by the House of Representatives and the chamber’s GOP leadership.

Political concerns may have also been in play, with critics of advancing the bill suggesting that the potential success of the legislation could be seen as a win for Tester, an incumbent Democratic senator up for re-election in a conservative state.

Cornyn indicated that negotiation on the bill would continue and that the legislation could be revived in the Senate. He explained that Wednesday’s vote was “hitting the pause button” on the measure. Schumer described the vote to stop the bill as “regrettable,” adding that he hopes efforts to resurrect the legislation in the Senate at a later date are successful.

Jeffrey M. Zucker, president of Denver-based cannabis-focused business strategy firm Green Lion Partners and vice chair of the Marijuana Policy Project board of directors, expressed disappointment at the decision to delay action on the Veterans Affairs Medicinal Cannabis Research Bill.

“I’m deeply saddened to hear that the Senate Republicans have blocked a procedural vote to advance this bill. It’s frustrating to see how politics can prevent progress on an issue that could make a huge difference in the lives of veterans and should really have no controversy surrounding it,” Zucker wrote in an email to High Times. “However, I’m still hopeful that lawmakers can come together to pass a bill that allows research into medical cannabis and eventually allows veterans to enjoy the benefits of medical cannabis. Our veterans deserve the best care possible, and medical cannabis could provide much-needed relief to those suffering from chronic pain, PTSD, and other conditions. It’s time for our leaders to put aside their differences and do what’s right for our veterans.”

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The measure that was approved by the Council of the District of Columbia late last year mandates an “automatic sealing for non-dangerous, non-convictions as well as shorten the waiting periods before a person is eligible to seal their record,” and “would also expand the eligibility of who can seal their record.” The bill was signed by Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in January, but its enactment was delayed due to an arcane part of lawmaking in our nation’s capital. 

Laws in D.C. are subject to congressional oversight and approval––a stipulation that has prevented the district from implementing legal marijuana sales, despite the fact that voters there legalized cannabis back in 2014.

After Bowser signed the cannabis expungement measure in January, the bill was transmitted to Congress. As NORML explained, all “legislation must undergo a 30-day Congressional review prior to becoming law,” and absent a Congressional intervention, the bill will then become law.

That moment is now––or rather, on March 10, when the law officially took effect.

NORML has more on the new law:

“The Act provides for the automatic review and expungement of any convictions or citations specific to marijuana-related offenses that have subsequently been decriminalized or legalized in the District of Columbia, as well as any ‘records related only to simple possession for any quantity of marijuana in violation of D.C. Code § 48-904.01(d)(1) before February 15, 2015.’ It requires all cannabis-specific expungements to be processed by the courts by January 1, 2025.”

Paul Armentano, the deputy director of NORML, hailed the new law.

“Thousands of DC residents unduly carry the burden and stigma of a past conviction for behavior that District lawmakers, most Americans, and a growing number of states, no longer consider to be a crime,” Armenato said. “Our sense of justice and our principles of fairness demand that the courts move swiftly to right the past wrongs of cannabis prohibition and criminalization.”

In 2021, it appeared that legal cannabis sales might finally be coming to Washington, D.C.

That’s because Senate Democrats at the time introduced a draft of an appropriations bill that did not include the so-called “Harris Rider,” a budget rider named for Republican Congressman Andy Harris of Maryland that had appeared in every such bill since 2014.

The Harris Rider has precluded Washington, D.C. from engaging in legal commercial marijuana sales. 

At the time, Bowser celebrated the rider’s apparent exclusion from the proposed bill.

“The Senate appropriations bill is a critical step in recognizing that in a democracy, D.C. residents should be governed by D.C. values,” Bowser’s office said at the time. “As we continue on the path to D.C. statehood, I want to thank Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, Senator Patrick Leahy, our good friend and Subcommittee Chair, Senator Chris Van Hollen, and, of course, our champion on the Hill, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, for recognizing and advancing the will of D.C. voters. We urge Congress to pass a final spending bill that similarly removes all anti-Home Rule riders, allowing D.C. to spend our local funds as we see fit.”

Activist groups pressured Democrats in Congress to hold firm and ditch the Harris Rider.

“In one hand, Congress continues to make strides in advancing federal marijuana reform grounded in racial justice, while simultaneously being responsible for prohibiting the very jurisdiction that led the country in legalizing marijuana through this lens from being able to regulate it. This conflict and contradiction must end now,” Queen Adesuyi, Senior National Policy Manager for the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement last year.

But it was not to be.

The appropriations bill that ultimately emerged last year included the Harris Rider.

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The recently passed bill, called the Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 (B24-0113), was sponsored by Chairman Phil Mendelson of the Washington, D.C. Council in February 2021. The Washington, D.C. Council voted unanimously to pass on Dec. 20, 2022, followed by Bowser signing the bill on Jan. 30, just two days before a response was due on Feb. 1.

The bill expands the capital’s medical cannabis program in many ways, including lifting the cap on dispensaries, creating new license types, and codifies emergency measures passed in 2021 and 2022.

Originally the amendment proposed implementing an increased cap on dispensaries, but was later revised to include no maximum number (although the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board is given the power to establish a cap one year from the passage of the bill in January 2024).

It also authorizes the creation of more cannabis license types, including cannabis delivery services, online sales, educational programs, and areas dedicated to cannabis consumption. “At least half” of all licenses given to currently unlicensed businesses will be given to social equity applicants (defined as those who are D.C. residents with low income, have spent time in prison for cannabis-related charges, or are related to someone who was affected by the War on Drugs).

Medical cannabis was legalized in Washington D.C. in 2010, and an attempt to legalize adult-use cannabis was passed by voters in 2014 through Initiative 71. While it allows possess of up to two ounces of cannabis and home cultivation, it also allows adults to gift up to one ounce of weed to another adult, which created the loophole of gifting (or a way to get around cannabis sale restrictions by selling merch or apparel with a gift of cannabis for free). The Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 seeks to target those unlicensed businesses, giving them a path to obtain a legal license.

The act also codifies emergency measures that were implemented for cannabis. This includes the emergency measure that provides support for Washington, D.C. patients with expired cards and help struggling dispensaries as well, which was passed in November 2021. In July 2022, Bowser signed a bill allowing adults to self-certify themselves as medical cannabis patients.

Overall, enforcement action related to these changes won’t be implemented until 315 days have passed since the signing of the bill, which would be later this year in December. It also needs congressional review before officially taking effect.

Also recently in Washington, D.C., Mendelson the Second Chance Amendment Act of 2021 (B24-0063) is under congressional review. This would implement automatic expungement through “automatic sealing for non-dangerous, non-convictions as well as shorten the waiting periods before a person is eligible to seal their record. It would also expand the eligibility of who can seal their record.” All expungements would need to be processed before Jan. 1, 2025. If congress doesn’t make a move against the bill, its projected law date is set for March 16, 2023.

Mendelson also recently introduced another bill (B25-0052) on Jan. 19, which aims to legalize adult-use cannabis sales. The proposal includes a “Reparations for Victims of the War on Cannabis Fund,” which would offer anywhere between $5,000 to $80,000 to pay those who were negatively affected by cannabis criminalization. It also includes a “Cannabis Equity and Opportunity Fund,” which would gather up 40% of revenue to go toward loans or grants for applicants affected by criminalization. Additionally, the bill details a plan to reinvest cannabis tax revenue into community services such as mental health treatments and youth development.

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Local lawmakers in Washington, D.C. last week passed legislation to expand medical marijuana sales, giving the city’s popular but unlicensed weed gifting shops a path to the regulated market. The bill, which was approved by the D.C. district council on December 20, comes after Congress included an existing prohibition on regulated adult-use cannabis sales in the nation’s capital as part of a spending bill approved last week.

The bill significantly expands Washington, D.C.’s medical marijuana program, lifting a cap on dispensaries and increasing the number of authorized cultivation facilities. The legislation also creates licenses for new types of cannabis businesses, including marijuana delivery services, online sales, educational programs such as cooking classes, and cannabis consumption areas at dispensaries. Half of the new licenses will be reserved for social equity applicants, which are defined as D.C. residents who have a low income, have spent time in prison, or are related to someone who was incarcerated for a cannabis or drug-related offense.

Bill Addresses D.C.’s Weed Gifting Shops

The legislation is designed to address the vast unregulated market for cannabis in Washington, D.C., where medical marijuana was legalized by local lawmakers in 2010. In 2014, voters approved Initiative 71, a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana. Under the measure, adults can possess up to two ounces of marijuana, are permitted to grow cannabis at home, and may gift up to one ounce of weed to another adult. However, Congress, which has control over the Washington, D.C. budget, has refused to allow the city to spend money on regulating recreational marijuana sales.

The situation has led to dozens of businesses that take advantage of the gifting provision of I-71 to distribute cannabis openly from storefront businesses. Under the common scheme, businesses sell benign merchandise such as apparel or art, offering what is ostensibly a free gift of marijuana with the purchase. Phil Mendelson, the Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, estimates the unregulated marijuana market in the nation’s capital is worth as much as $600 million per year. 

“There’s always going to be an advantage to unlicensed and unregulated: they don’t have to pay taxes, they don’t have to ensure quality,” Mendelson said in an interview with DCist/WAMU. “Congress is aiding and abetting that by prohibiting us from regulating that. It’s a real public safety problem,” he said.

Patients Can Self-Certify To Use Medical Marijuana

The legislation passed last week also makes permanent an emergency measure passed earlier this year that allows adults to certify their own eligibility to use medical marijuana, eliminating a previous provision that required certification by a licensed physician. At the time, Mendelson and some members also attempted to enact prohibitions on the gifting industry but faced opposition from a group of business owners. Legalizing the shops so they could be regulated was not possible under the congressional ban, making allowing gifting businesses a path to the medical marijuana market an option popular with a majority of the district council.

“It’s going to allow the District to be a lot healthier on the cannabis side,” Terrence White, chairman of a group known as the i-71 Committee and a gifting shop owner, told the Washington Post. “It’s going to allow us to be doing it ‘right,’ as I call it.”

The bill passed by the council last week gives existing operators 90 days to apply for a medical marijuana retailer license and prevents enforcement against gifting shops for at least 315 days after the legislation goes into effect. David Grosso, a former council member and current lobbyist for the D.C. Cannabis Trade Association, a group representing licensed medical marijuana operators, said that the bill is a positive development for the industry.

“We certainly would like to see a level playing field across the board, and that hasn’t been the case for as long as the [Initiative 71] folks have been operating illegally. And so we’re hopeful that this effort will bring them into the legal market and then treat them equally with us,” said Grosso. “And that means all the regulations that come with it, the fees that you have to pay, the inspections you have to endure, all of the restrictions around where you can locate, and everything like that which the current legal market has had to deal with now for more than ten years, which is a huge burden on us.”

Norbert Pickett, the owner of Cannabliss, one of the seven licensed medical dispensaries located in the nation’s capital, agreed, saying that the legislation is an opportunity to expand Washington, D.C.’s medical marijuana market and provide new options for patients.

“It gives patients more access to safe and tested cannabis,” he said. “It unifies unregulated market and the legal market. For me, that’s a win.”

Mackenzie Mann, project manager for the gifting industry trade group Generational Equity Movement, said that the legislation from the district council is a drastic change for Washington, D.C.’s cannabis landscape.

“It’s surreal,” Mann said. “A year ago, they were trying to shut us down.”

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