Local lawmakers approved a medical cannabis legalization measure in May 2010. A component of the measure allowed the launch of eight initial medical cannabis dispensaries in the Washington D.C. area.
In January 2023, the Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 became effective. The measure overhauled Washington D.C.’s medical cannabis program, making the program more accessible to patients.
The Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 came roughly 8 years after voters in Washington D.C. approved an adult-use legalization measure. The successful legalization vote in D.C. in November 2014 provided suffering patients who could not qualify for the D.C. medical cannabis program protections for cultivation, possession, and consumption.
Since 2014, unregulated adult-use cannabis sales have proliferated the D.C. area, however, all adult-use sales remain prohibited in D.C., and the only legal outlets from which patients can acquire medical cannabis is through licensed medical cannabis dispensaries.
As of March 2024, the Washington D.C. medical cannabis program had 25,463 unique patients enrolled in the program. Additionally, the program had 71 unique caregivers enrolled in the Washington D.C. medical cannabis program.
In-store medical cannabis sales reached $1,451,943 in March 2024, up from $1,377,309 the prior month. In addition to in-store sales figures in March, licensed medical cannabis delivery services sold $179,656 in March 2024. Below are sales figures by product type for the first quarter of 2024 in Washington D.C.:
Below is additional information about the March 2024 sales figures in D.C. via initial reporting by Outlaw Report:
- Straight cannabis bud sales (369 lbs) rose for the first time in three months.
- Seven inspections were conducted across dispensaries and cultivation centers with no violations found.
- The most recent quarter in 2024 was a little over 21% of a decrease in total sales from the same time period in 2023.
- The top state for temporary patient registrations was Virginia followed by Maryland than North Carolina.
- 1,920 pounds of cannabis waste was destroyed in March.
- Over 1,700 patient registrations are set to expire by the end of June.