Washington D.C. has expanded its reciprocity rules to serve patients from all states that issue medical cannabis cards or other equivalent documents.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Health, and the Mayor’s Office of Policy announced on Thursday that non-resident medical cannabis patients will be able to patronize any of the District’s dispensaries to obtain medication.
The new rule expands the number of state medical cannabis cards that the District recognizes from 19 to at least 27.
“This emergency rulemaking is patient-centric,” said Mayor Bowser in a statement. “It ensures medical marijuana patients from other states can obtain their needed medicine. It will also promote public safety by allowing visitors to obtain their medicine at one of the District’s six—soon to be seven—authorized dispensaries rather than forcing them to go without or patronizing the illegal market.”
The District already recognizes cards from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington State.
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont have been added to the list of accepted medical cannabis cards while Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and West Virginia are currently under review.
In May, Mayor Bowser proposed the Safe Cannabis Sales Act of 2019; a bill that would allow for the sale of recreational cannabis in the District.
District residents opted to legalize the possession and recreational use of cannabis in Washington D.C. in 2014 by voting to pass Initiative 71, though sales are currently prohibited.
