D.C.'s Medical Marijuana Law Needs Your Support Now

If you live in D.C. or know anyone who does, we need your help to ensure that the D.C. Council passes sensible medical marijuana regulations. The current bill is a good effort, but we need to educate the Council about a few issues before the vote next Tuesday. Here are a few of the problems we hope to address:

1. The bill prohibits patients from cultivating their own medicine. Personal cultivation is essential to ensuring that patients have affordable and reliable access to their medicine.

2. The bill invades patient privacy by requiring detailed records of every purchase. This information puts patients at risk under federal law. Purchase records must be kept anonymous.

3. The bill states that patients may only medicate at their own residence or in a hospice. No other medicine is treated this way, and such a rule will create constant hardship for sick people. Patients should be allowed to medicate in any appropriate private residence if they have permission to do so.

4. The bill establishes a monthly purchase/possession limit of 2 ounces. Some patients will need more medicine than this. The limit should be 4-8 ounces, which has worked well in other states.

5. The bill only allows doctors in D.C. to issue valid recommendations. Patients with doctors outside the District should not have to change their medical care to qualify for the program.

Please contact your Council Member as well as the At-Large Members this week to make sure our concerns are addressed in the final bill. Click here for more info, including contact information for the Council. It only takes a few minutes and every call makes a difference. Thanks!