Due to regulatory and business incentives, Georgetown cannabis “gifting” shops are proliferating wildly.
As many have noticed, cannabis “gifting shops” and dispensaries have been scrambling energetically – and often furtively – to set up shop behind Georgetown storefronts, to the delight of marijuana consumers across the region and the chagrin of concerned residents, businesses, ANC commissioners, and many officers in the Metropolitan Police Department.
A little background: Since 2011, a handful of medical marijuana dispensaries have operated in the District under strict licensing and health protocols. In 2014, however, the D.C. Council passed Initiative 71, or “I-71” to legalize recreational marijuana use in the city. A legal gray area in the legislation forbidding the direct sale of cannabis but not explicitly ruling out “giving it away” then sparked a widespread marijuana “gifting economy” throughout the city. Now retailers could “sell” a non-cannabis item to a consumer while “gifting” a “free” amount of recreational marijuana in the same transaction.
Then, in 2022, the D.C. Council passed the Medical Cannabis Amendment Act which blew the doors open further to retail cannabis sales. The legislation allows existing retailers in the cannabis “gifting” market to apply for medical marijuana dispensing licenses. Except now, medical dispensing will be much easier for the consumer. A buyer can simply self-declare a medical marijuana necessity – essentially write their own doctor’s note. In addition, an extended non-enforcement timeframe against retail “gifting” dispensaries was added to the legislation, further fueling the retail scramble. The legislation “does not permit enforcement action until 315 days after the law takes effect, which is [on] Jan. 31, 2024,” said Leslie Malone, public affairs specialist at the city’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA).
So, the “law encourages unlicensed operators to enter the legal market by making additional medical cannabis business licenses available and permitting [the current retailers] to apply for a license during an open application period. The open application period for unlicensed operators – i.e., those that have been engaged in commercial cannabis transactions from a location in D.C. since Dec. 31, 2022 – opened on Nov. 1, 2023, and closes on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024,” Malone said. “Available license types for retailers include Cultivation Center, Internet Retailer, or Retailer,” Malone added.
Enforcement against current cannabis “gifting” retailers, however, is quite murkily delineated. According to Malone, “ABCA does not have the authority to inspect unlicensed operators, those businesses may be inspected or investigated by other agencies for reasons under their purview.” Additionally, she said, “no medical cannabis retailer applications for unlicensed establishments have been accepted thus far by ABCA for Georgetown.”
So, right now, Georgetown unlicensed cannabis “gifting” retailers may be subject to ANC protests or regulated “by other agencies” – just not yet by ABCA.
An ANC Commissioner’s Response
One ANC Commissioner particularly concerned with the rampant proliferation of cannabis “gifting” retailers in Georgetowner – especially near schools, parks and community centers – is Topher Mathews (2E03). In monthly ANC meetings he’s spoken on the issue frequently and written extensively about it in his newsletter, The Georgetown Metropolitan. In April, 2023, Matthews described the scramble of the cannabis retailers as a “wild west” environment in which such shops “have popped up overnight like a field of mushrooms after a spell of rain.”
The Georgetowner spoke with Mathews about his concerns over the proliferation of these shops. The current scenario is a “bit of a gold rush,” he said, because “existing I-71 shops get a little bit of first-come-first-served [treatment]” to obtain the medical marijuana retail license. “ So, “that has been my understanding of why there’s been this huge influx of gifting shops in the last year or so. Their goal is to be a fully-licensed retailer at the end of this process.”
ANC2E Commissioner Topher Mathews has worked hard to keep cannabis retailers away from schools, parks and community centers. Courtesy Topher Mathews.
With the proliferation of “gifting” shops, however, Mathews has had to battle to keep them away from kids in the neighborhood. According to the regulations, such shops can’t be within 300 feet of a school. But, regulatory exceptions are carved out if an area is zoned commercially. “I’ve been very forceful myself, because I’m a teacher,” Mathews said. Georgetown’s Hyde-Addison Elementary School, for example, was deemed exempt from protections. “Up to two weeks ago, [Hyde-Addison] was identified as being both commercial and residential,” he said. But he helped clarify to authorities that the school’s commercial zoning was due to a software error. “There was a person who owns several buildings in Georgetown who wanted to get a retailer’s license in a lot that literally abuts Hyde. [But,] I got on a call to zoning and said, ‘fix the software error’ – and within an hour it was fixed.”
In another case involving the same prospective retailer, Mathews had to lobby zoning authorities that Georgetown Volta Park should also be off-limits. “I reached out to the city and said ‘you do realize that Volta Park is a rec center, right?,” Mathews recalled. “And, they said, ‘Oh, you’re right.’ So that [plan] also got scotched.”
Interestingly, Mathews is trying to rein in cannabis “gifting shops,” though he’s not personally opposed to legal marijuana use. “I think it’s fine. I mean, I don’t personally partake [laughs] and I think the criminalization of it has led to a lot of very bad outcomes,” he said. “And the more we can bring it into a legal sphere instead of this kind of quasi-gray market, that would be a benefit as well.”
How does Mathews feel about the shops themselves? “Not all of them are bad,” he said. “But I think a lot of them are tacky and really detract from the streetscape. I mean, I’ve got a neighbor who owns an art gallery on Book Hill and some of the other pot shops thought she was just another pot shop. And customers would even come in expecting them to be a pot shop, because these quote-unquote “galleries” are really pot shops. So a genuine gallery is being mistaken for a pot shop. And that’s not great.”
Mathews also worries about the safety of the currently-unregulated “gifting shops.” “We don’t know how good they are about not selling to kids. They’re cash-heavy businesses which make them targets for crime. You know, criminal elements recognize there are a lot of drugs and cash in these stories, so it attracts that. And, we’ve seen other instances, like the one near Hardy and Safeway and in the alley where kids just kind of go back and hang out and smoke weed. So, it’s not a net gain.” Mathews recalls recent graffiti incidents and a police report of a sledgehammer being used for a window break-in from the alley.
Mathews estimates there are probably 15 “gifting shops” currently operating in Georgetown, fronting as “art galleries, weird foreign candy or cereal or t-shirt [shops]” and the like. “For some, you would think it’s a perfume shop, even an expensive one – almost like an Apple store. Others are clearly like head shops… ugly… with [marijuana and vaping] paraphernalia, just tacky.”
What Mathews would like to see are just a “few clean, well-regulated shops,” rather than so many unregulated ones now. “I’m sure people would want that, and that’s fine,” he said.
On the ANC, Mathews wants to reassure residents that “we’re on it – the ANC is on it. We’re getting up to speed and advocating for having, as soon as possible, the [shops] that are open to be clean, well-regulated and safe, and the others to be taken out.” The ANC is also working closely together on the issue, he said. They’ve called for a moratorium on unregulated shops and recently co-signed a letter to ABCA to give input on the rule-making process going forward. “I think we’re all of the same mind in terms of wanting [the shops] to be legal, safe, and rare,” Mathews said.
A View from MPD Lt. John Merzig
We also spoke to Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Lieutenant John Merzig, who serves Georgetown and has presented to ANC2E on public safety issues arising from the proliferation of cannabis “gifting” shops. For Merzig, the whole phenomenon stems from a misreading of the I-71 law. The “gifting” provisions in the bill are not meant to apply to business, only to individuals, Merzig holds. “These dispensaries try to operate in that gray area where they’re just saying ‘you give us $400 and I give you a pair of socks and also an ounce or two of marijuana with it. But, clearly, you’re buying $400 worth of marijuana and some socks that cost $1.00. So that’s kind of how they advertise it as compliant with District law, but it’s really completely against it.”
But, it’s not just the “legal fiction” that bothers Merzig. Many of these shops serve as fronts for higher-level drug-dealing, Merzig believes. “They’re essentially drug dealers with a storefront. And they make significant sums of money,” he said. “I’ve seen some of these stores pull in $50,000 a week in some cases.”
When MPD has tried to bust major drug operations fronted by these “gifting” shops, Merzig said, the U.S. Attorney’s office for D.C., led by Matthew Graves, has refused to prosecute. “When we’re going into these places and putting ourselves in harm’s way and sometimes putting targets on our backs for disrupting what’s a very large and lucrative industry, to not have any prosecution just because it’s marijuana, is definitely frustrating for the officers,” he said. So, MPD is trying to work administratively through ABCA, but the process is frustrating, Merzig said. If a shop is slapped with a fine, it has little effect. “If they’re already flouting District law, they’re not going to really worry about a $1000 or even a $5000 fine. They can just up and move. And, landlords love to take them on because they pay in cash.”
With so much cash-on-hand, many of these shops – or as Merzig calls them, “unlicensed distribution centers” – have fallen victim to “targeted robberies.”
A Visit to Some Cannabis “Gifting” Shops on Wisconsin Ave.
Walking towards Book Hill, I popped into one such cannabis “gifting” retailer, Taste Budz of Georgetown at 1361 Wisconsin Ave. NW to explore the shop’s environment. Marijuana leaf stickers on the shop windows signal to passersby that cannabis can be obtained by adults on the premises, with the simple purchase of a legal product – a scented candle, CBD oil, some vapes, incense, etc. – on the understanding that the store will give the consumer a free “gift” of marijuana back.
A tastefully decorated, spa-like shop, with ample Feng Shui, pleasantly scented of candles and featuring comforting sculptures of The Buddha awaits. I’m greeted warmly by Claribel Moran, a young woman behind the register who’s happy to answer any questions I pose to help me understand what their shop is like.
“So, we work under a law called I-71 – and we also work under 1-81 [allowing the sale of microdoses of psilocybin or “magic” mushrooms] – where we don’t sell marijuana [or mushrooms] but we gift. So, your purchase could be an incense, a lighter, a crystal, a candle, and then the marijuana of your choice with the product would be gifted to you,” Moran said. The store’s sales flyer features “Exotics,” like “Frosted Flakes,” a THC cannabis “gift” for $65, or cannabis edible gummies such as 20 pieces of “Skittles” for $25, or a “Chocolate Bar” with 4 grams of psilocybin mushroom for $65.
I asked Moran if her shop had ever had any problems with the police or inspectors. “I’ve never had or seen any issues personally,” she said, having worked at the shop since March, 2023. “We’ve never had inspectors. But, I did hear this one company had them because they were selling to kids illegally and selling tobacco products. But, we ID everyone – just like I ID’d you…. I do know there are neighbors who hate the smell [of marijuana smoke from customers outside] and the clientele that does come in are not especially to their liking…. But, other than that, I’ve never had or heard any complaints at this shop or any of the shops we do have. Yeah, our demographic is cool.”
Moran expressed pride in her work. “We’re a Black-owned business and I guess [the owner] just wanted to expand his horizons into Georgetown. He’s always loved the product and respected the herb itself and wanted to help people out medicinal-wise… I’m just happy here. It’s warm hugs. I’ve felt like it’s a family here. Everything is organized well and structured here…. I’m not going to lie. Everything here is good vibes, clean, organized, structured, and safe – very much safe.”
For Moran, the reception from Georgetown has been friendly. “I feel like we were welcomed with open-arms to the community and, hopefully, we can expand much more and help everyone out, especially people who are anxious. We’re here to educate and also to inform people about how to use marijuana and psilocybin properly without being anxious, or, you know, hearing cliches about being high or just dabbling in it recreationally.”
Moran described how much counseling she and the store’s other employees engage in with the customers to ensure they use the store’s “gifts” cautiously and carefully. They try to fine-tailor their offerings to the customers’ expressed needs – i.e., are they looking to soothe joint aches, to sleep better at night, or to experience a pleasant high?
Surprisingly, Moran said many of her customers are Georgetown senior-citizens with aches and pains, who indeed use the store’s “gifts” medicinally. She also estimated there are between 30-40 cannabis “gifting” shops in Georgetown now. Before I leave, Moran, seeing that I was on crutches (following ankle surgery), generously gives me – with no cash transaction involved – a sample of Indica marijuana specifically for joint pain. Like Topher Mathews, however, I haven’t yet partaken…
Just across the street from Taste Budz is another cannabis “gifting” shop, GT Vapes at 1408 Wisconsin Ave. NW. This one’s store front is much more garishly appointed, like a teenage stoner’s room from a 70s film with psychedelic posters of a young badass woman with a blunt dangling from her mouth, and all sorts of colored smoking and vaping paraphernalia nestled beneath a Christmas tree in the store window.
Behind the counter, a friendly employee, Fardin Avasi, is happy to describe GT Vape’s business. “This used to be just a vape shop,” he said. “But, D.C. banned nicotine flavors, so we converted the shop to CBD stuff and glass [pipes and smoking paraphernalia]. Most of the stuff is, like, CBD [oil].” But, in the back, Avasi said, the store has cannabis products they “gift” along with their wares.
Avasi also believes GT Vapes is a “positive thing” for the community. “We have a lot of CBD stuff [CBD is an acronym for Cannabidiol, derived from the hemp plant, but not containing the active ingredient THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol, to stimulate a marijuana “high.”]. These are for older people when they have pain in their joints or when they cannot sleep through the night. So, we have CBD gummies” for them, he said. “And, CBD products are safe…. It’s body-relaxing… When you feel tired, uncomfortable, you can use CBD products and it’s helpful.”
If someone walks in the shop who’s never tried marijuana or gotten high before, Avasi reassures that they counsel their customers to start gradually. “If any person hasn’t used this THC stuff we give them advice. We recommend they first use CBD products and if that doesn’t work for them, for the next purchase, we can recommend to them some THC product, but with a pretty low dosage.”
Avasi also said the store has never had inspectors look specifically at their cannabis “gifting” operation, just the usual zoning and building authorities when they initially set up shop. “We’re trying to get the license [for medical marijuana dispensing] right now,” he said. “Actually, we have a manager and he’s dealing with those kinds of things just today. He’s trying to get the license because the law is going to change and “gifting” is going to be discontinued. And every shop will have to have a license for medical purposes.”
So the scramble continues.
