Is weed legal in the District of Columbia?

Recreational status

Recreational cannabis is legal in the District of Columbia. (D.C. Code § 48-904.01: Prohibited acts A; penalties)

The Code does not make it lawful to sell marijuana: 'nothing in this subsection shall make it lawful to sell, offer for sale, or make available for sale any marijuana or cannabis plants.' The same source records a congressional funding rider barring the use of federal funds 'to enact or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance ... for recreational purposes.' No license class for adult-use retail sale exists as a result; the only licensed cannabis retailers in the District serve registered medical patients.

Lawful here reaches holding, growing and using what you already have, and stops short of any shop that would sell it to you. A rider on the District's federal funding is what keeps a recreational license class from existing, so Congress rather than the Council drew that line.

Medical status

A full medical cannabis program runs in the District of Columbia, serving patients the program registers. (D.C. Code § 7-1671.02: Use of medical cannabis)

Registration does more work in the District than a card does where recreational stores exist, because it is the only route to a lawful purchase. The Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration runs the patient side of it, and the Council wrote the chapter behind the program for medical use alone.

Hemp-derived products

Information coming soon

Home cultivation

The District of Columbia allows an adult to grow up to 6 plants at home. (D.C. Code § 48-904.01: Prohibited acts A; penalties)

The six plants are no more than 3 mature, flowering plants, grown within the interior of the person's principal residence. All persons residing within a single house or rental unit may not exceed 12 plants in the aggregate, with 6 or fewer mature and flowering.

Growing is the one lawful supply an unregistered adult has here, which is why the plant rule matters more than it does where shops are open. It attaches to your principal residence, so a second home, a garage down the street or a friend's spare room is not covered.

Possession and purchase limits

The possession limit, as the District of Columbia states it: Marijuana weighing 2 ounces or less. (D.C. Code § 48-904.01: Prohibited acts A; penalties)

On buying, the District of Columbia states: Registered patients can legally purchase up to 8 ounces of medical cannabis within a rolling 30-day period. (Medical Cannabis - Patients)

The possession figure reaches any adult and the buying figure reaches only registered patients, so the second is not a limit most people will ever meet. Rolling means the 30 days move with each purchase instead of resetting on the first of the month.

Minimum age

You must be 21 or over to buy without a medical card. (D.C. Code § 48-904.01: Prohibited acts A; penalties)

The District of Columbia sets no minimum age for a patient. (D.C. Code § 7-1671.02: Use of medical cannabis)

A qualifying patient who is a minor may purchase, possess, use and administer medical cannabis after a practitioner's recommendation and with a parent or guardian, so the chapter sets no floor. The 21 in the section is the threshold for self-certification, not for eligibility.

The District puts this decision with a practitioner and a parent rather than fixing a birthday for it, which is why no number appears for patients. An adult buying without a card is measured by the other age given here.

Where you can buy

You can buy lawfully from a licensed medical dispensary and a licensed delivery service. (D.C. Code § 7-1671.02: Use of medical cannabis)

D.C. Code 7-1671.06 authorizes an internet retailer, which has no public physical location, to dispense and distribute medical cannabis 'through delivery to any qualifying patient or the qualifying patient's caregiver.' There is no adult-use-dispensary channel: recreational sale of marijuana is not made lawful by the Code, per the note on adult_use_status.

Some of the District's licensed sellers keep no address you can visit, because it licenses an internet retailer that only delivers. Either route begins with registration, because neither will serve a walk-in who holds no card.

The District of Columbia store list names every licensed location this site holds a record for.

Federal law applies here too, and it is not the same. Read what federal law says about weed.