RULES SET FOR D.C. PERMIT TO CULTIVATE MARIJUANA

Candidates to grow medical marijuana in the District risk wasting
their time, energy and a non-refundable $2,500 if they're not prepared
to meet the strict demands of the application process about to get
under way.

The D.C. Department of Health issued strict rules Friday that govern
how qualified applicants should submit paperwork from Aug. 15 to Sept.
16 for a cultivation license

The applications, which will be scored by a multi-agency panel, could
highlight who is serious versus those who is ill-equipped to handle
the demands. Candidates so far have only submitted a formal intent to
apply. But now they must submit a detailed security plan and
descriptions of how marijuana will be handled, stored, packaged and
labeled.

D.C. residents have waited more than a dozen years since a referendum
showed majority support for a medical-marijuana program. Yet
congressional interference and procedural bureaucracy banned, slowed
its implementation. In addition, the drug is still illegal by federal
standards, and a recent memo by the Justice Department casts doubt on
whether U.S. attorneys will look the other way when it comes to local
medical-marijuana programs.

Last month, the health department rejected 31 letters of intent to
apply for one of 10 cultivation licenses or five dispensary licenses
because of errors as simple as forgetting to put down an email address.

"It's telling," applicant Montgomery Blair Sibley said of the process.
"We'll know when the 16th of September comes around who put in a real
application."

Mr. Sibley said his business, the Medicinal Marijuana Company of the
District of Columbia, has been waiting for more than a year to submit
a formal application, which must cover topics such as facility size,
security cameras and a plan for handling violent incidents or other
emergencies.

"It's going to be very detailed," Mr. Sibley said of his planned
submission. "We already had done all that legwork."

Applicants also must heed the finer points of the process, such as
making 10 printed copies and one electronic PDF of all application
materials.

No one can "amend, add to, correct, revise, or supplement" an
application after it is submitted, so the health department advises
applicants to take heed of revised rules in the regulations posted
Friday. Each one must pay a $5,000 application fee, of which $2,500
cannot be refunded.

One applicant, who wished to remain anonymous, said "it's definitely
been difficult" to keep up with the fine print while meetings with
lawyers and real estate professionals.

The applicant, whose identity was checked by The Washington Times
through official documents, said people without experience in medical
marijuana production may find themselves in over their heads.

"It's essentially farming," the applicant said. "That means no
vacations."