The cannabis bill marks the latest attempt by lawmakers to support the city’s medical marijuana industry, which they say has lost business to more easily accessible marijuana “gifting” shops based in the District.
Unregulated gifting businesses, which give patrons cannabis so long as they purchase another item like a sticker or poster, grew in number after 2014, when recreational marijuana use and possession were legalized in the District, but not sales. Entrepreneurs say the gifting method offers a way around restrictions imposed by Congress that prevent D.C. from regulating its sale.
But D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and other lawmakers have criticized the District’s 40-plus marijuana gifting shops, arguing that these “gray market”…
