According to DC law, when deciding whether an object qualifies as drug paraphernalia, a court can consider factors such as “direct or circumstantial evidence of the intent of an owner, or of anyone in control of the object, to deliver it to persons whom he or she knows, or should reasonably know, intends to use the object to facilitate a violation.” The stores’ supporters say the wording is too subjective. Allen St. Pierre calls the resulting charges “thought crimes.”
“It’s a matter of the intent of the person who comes in,” Capitol Hemp co-owner Adam Eidinger says. “Unless someone tells us they’re going to use it illegally, why should we assume they’re going to use it for drugs?”
The confusion over the DC law’s murky language echoes that of the medical-marijuana industry elsewhere in the country. In several areas that host legal dispensaries, federal and state laws have collided, leading to raids and shutdowns of businesses.
In June, deputy US attorney general James Cole issued a Department of Justice memo warning that growing, selling, and distributing marijuana violates federal law even in states that have legalized it.
Since then, federal prosecutors have intensified efforts to crack down on dispensaries, particularly in California, the first state to legalize medical marijuana. In October, four US Attorneys sent letters to California landlords demanding they halt marijuana sales or they could lose their property and face criminal charges. Nationwide, the IRS ruled that medical marijuana dispensaries can’t deduct business expenses such as payroll, security, or rent from their taxes.
“Going after people running above-ground medical-marijuana dispensaries is like shooting fish in a barrel,” says Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which promotes reforms such as regulating marijuana the same way as alcohol. “The feds are spreading fear and confusion within the entire community.”
In DC, cultivation-center applicants were required to sign a form that pointed to the fact that, while the centers will be legal in the District, they still technically violate federal law.
“Growing, distributing, and possessing marijuana in any capacity, other than as a part of a federally authorized research program, is a violation of federal laws,” the form cautioned. “The District of Columbia’s law . . . will not excuse any registrant from any violation of the federal laws governing marijuana.”
Some experts worry that the drug’s risks aren’t taken seriously.
Good Medicine?
What scientific research has to say about medical marijuana
Though marijuana hasn’t been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, there’s lots of interest in the plant’s potential to help those suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, and other conditions.
Marijuana was used in Chinese medicine as early as 3000 bc to relieve pain and cramps. Modern research has found that tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—the most active psychoactive ingredient in marijuana—reduces nausea and vomiting among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. A 2011 study in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia showed that cannabidiol, the second-most common chemical in marijuana, prevents pain caused by a chemotherapy drug.
THC also has been proven effective in stimulating appetites, especially among those suffering from degenerative diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The FDA approved Marinol, a capsule drug containing THC, in 1985 for cancer patients and in 1992 for people with AIDS. Alzheimer’s patients suffering from anorexia—a common consequence of the disease—also gained weight and exhibited less disturbing behavior after taking Marinol, according to a study in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.
Among people with neuropathic pain caused by traffic accidents or nerve damage, low doses of smoked marijuana improve mood and act as a sleeping aid, according to researchers at McGill University Health Centre in Canada.
The validity of more extreme claims on marijuana’s medicinal effects, such as its ability to stunt tumor growth, remain in debate. While a Harvard study found that THC reduced the size of lung-cancer tumors by 50 percent, other research has found that it may trigger other cancers’ growth.
By Melissa Romero
“Marijuana is not a harmless substance,” says Rafael Lemaitre, director of communications for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. While pot doesn’t have the overdose risks of other drugs, he says, it contains carcinogens and can lead to addiction, drugged-driving accidents, cognitive impairment, anxiety, and depression.
“The potency of marijuana has been increasing since the ’80s,” Lemaitre says. “The average THC content is 10 percent now. That increased potency hasn’t been very well reported. A lot of people think it’s the same drug our parents grew up with, but the average THC content was 3 to 5 percent then.”
Local residents who choose to use marijuana face a range of penalties, depending on where they’re caught. In DC, possession of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. In Virginia, a first-possession offense is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500. The Virginia state legislature killed a bill aiming to decriminalize possession in 2011.
In Maryland, possession of any amount is punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. In May 2011, Maryland governor Martin O’Malley signed a bill that removes criminal penalties and fines for defendants who present evidence of medical necessity. Maryland is exploring the possibility of a medical-marijuana program.
Typical penalties for first-time offenders caught with a small amount of marijuana are not severe. In DC, a first-possession charge usually results in a year of probation, according to the US Attorney’s office. In Montgomery County, the State’s Attorney’s Office says most first-timers are diverted to drug-treatment-and-education programs.
DC has the highest per-capita marijuana-arrest numbers, according to Shenandoah University criminal-justice professor Jon Gettman, former national director of NORML—though Gettman notes that DC reports its data differently than the states, so the ranking is imprecise. Maryland ranks fifth, Virginia 25th. “DC also has some of the highest usage levels in the nation,” Gettman says.
Nationally, marijuana use varies little among races. In the 2010 National Survey of Drug Use and Health, nearly 12 percent of white people and 14 percent of African-Americans reported having used marijuana in the previous year. But in 2007, Gettman found that 91 percent of DC’s marijuana arrests were of black people.
That doesn’t mean that police are targeting blacks, Gettman says. “The areas that get the greatest priority for police patrols tend to be where there are large African-American populations,” he says. “Marijuana use is fairly equal in the two populations, but for example, in the District there’s a lot more enforcement activity in Anacostia or parts of Northeast than there would be in Georgetown or Cleveland Park.”
The disparity leaves most affluent white marijuana users feeling pretty safe. A fortysomething university professor who lives on DC’s upper Connecticut Avenue keeps his stash in a glass jar in a freezer. About once a month, he and his wife smoke for “date night” after their two children go to bed. “To get caught in my big, fancy house, someone outside would have to smell pot and call the police, who would come in and see that I have some small amount,” he says. “I can’t imagine that would get me in big trouble. I feel buffered by privilege.”
Distributors don’t share that feeling. A thirtysomething woman in the legal industry who once took over her neighbor’s drug-dealing business for a summer says there are strict protocols among dealers with upper-class clientele. Customers would call and ask to “come by.”
“I’d say, ‘Okay, how much money do you owe me?,’ which is code for ‘How much are you buying?’ ” the dealer says. “I worked on 24-hour turnaround when I was ‘helping people out’—that’s what we call it.”
Juggling a day job and an illicit after-hours enterprise left her exhausted. “The hours I had to keep were ridiculous. The [supplier] would show up at 3 in the morning with several pounds of marijuana. I would count out anywhere between $20,000 and $30,000.” Then she’d try to catch a few hours of sleep before getting up for work.
The day before Sara and I were scheduled to meet for the first time, she bowed out.
