MEDICAL MARIJUANA APPROVALS CLUSTERED IN WARD 5

Neighbors Concerned Without Voice on Council

Before he resigned and admitted to stealing $350,000 from the
District, former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. expressed
concern that much of the city's medical marijuana cultivation would
take place in a small slice of his Northeast ward.

The D.C. Department of Health recently green-lighted seven applicants
who plan to grow the drug, including a pair from the company
affiliated with TV personality Montel Williams. And, sure enough, six
of the applicants propose a site in a section of Ward 5 that abuts
Bladensburg Road and is best known for manufacturing and strip clubs.

Their applications will be scored by Advisory Neighborhood
Commissions in the coming weeks, one of the last steps before
potential cultivation centers get one of 10 licenses to grow the drug
in the District.

Unlike earlier community meetings on the controversial subject, Ward
5 will weigh in on the program without a council member dedicated to
representing their interests at city hall - offering an "Exhibit A"
in the leadership gap left by Thomas, a Democrat who faces more than
three years in federal prison after his May 3 sentencing.

"That can be a problem, because of his close relationship to the
ANCs," Albrette "Gigi" Ransom, of ANC5C, said of Thomas‘ departure.

Ms. Ransom said the concentration of marijuana facilities in the ward
is a problem for some community leaders, but her most pressing
concern is the 30-day time frame the ANCs have to weigh in on the applications.

She noted that the four at-large council members should be able to
provide assistance during the process.

A list circulated to the three ANCs in Ward 5 indicates that five
different entities are considered "provisional applicants" to grow marijuana.

The Department of Health forwarded two applications from Mr.
Williams‘ company, Abatin Wellness Center, and a pair from
District Growers LLC.

The two other applicants in Ward 5 are Montana Apothecary, doing
business as "Alternative Solutions," and Venture Forth, whose
business name is "Center City."

A seventh applicant, Phyto Management, proposes a site on Benning
Road in Ward 7.

Each applicant had obtained 150 points or more from a six-member
panel of city health, law enforcement and regulatory officials.

The Health Department may forward additional candidates to the ANCs
this month, because 10 applicants failed to provide the proper
paperwork and have a chance to correct their submissions.

Six of the seven sites with provisional approval are packed together
within a stone's throw of each other on Queens Chapel Road, 24th
Place and Channing and Evarts streets, a byproduct of the medical
marijuana program's security demands and city zoning laws.

Council member Vincent B. Orange, at-large Democrat who formerly
represented Ward 5, said he may draft legislation to limit the number
of cultivation sites in the ward.

"If they have to be in Ward 5, then all the dispensaries shouldn't be
in Ward 5," Mr. Orange added. "The ward should not have to bear the
burden of the entire program."

Mr. Orange, who has lived in the ward for about 30 years, was
scheduled to host a Ward 5 leadership meeting at a Northeast church
on Monday night to talk about the upcoming special election and "what
has occurred and where we are going."

"I think it's an opportunity for the people of Ward 5 to exhale," he said.