Mark Segraves, wtop.com
WASHINGTON — They’re lining up to grow and sell pot in the nation’s capital.
The District’s Department of Health has received 17 applications to sell medical marijuana. The deadline for applicants was Tuesday at noon. The city will only award up to five licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries.
In addition to the five retail sites in D.C., there will be up to 10 cultivation sites where the marijuana will be grown. Twenty-eight applicants are vying for those permits. Applications are due Sept. 16.
The cultivation sites will be restricted to manufacturing zones. The vast majority of the applicants came from organizations looking to operate in Ward 5. The retail locations can be in any commercial district as long as they are 300 feet from schools and rec centers.
One applicant is eying a location on Capitol Hill.
Applicants for the cultivation sites and the dispensaries had to pay the city a $2,500 non-refundable application fee. Residents will have some say in which applicants are approved, but they will not be able to unilaterally veto applications. Qualified patients should be able to purchase the medical marijuana by the middle of next year.
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