Policy Recommendations District Of Columbia

2020-21 Improvements and Recommendations

Patient enrollment in the district increased by nearly 37% between 2020 and 2021. In October of 2020, regulation of DC’s existing medical cannabis market was transferred from DC Health to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. This is a move seen by many in the District as a pre- emptive maneuver to prepare for the long delayed adult use market to open when congress finally removes the budget limitations that have been in place since 2015.

There were new mandatory aflatoxin (mycotoxin) testing standards written into the District’s regulations; however, whoever wrote the new rule failed to establish any limits on the toxins. Effectively this means that although labs will now test for mycotoxins alongside other contaminants, there is no failure point. While DC has some of the most stringent testing requirements in place there are currently no labs licensed and accredited to operate in DC.

In 2022, ASA recommends that the DC city council pass a bill that focuses on filling the gaps that exist in their protections of civil rights for patients. Patients should not face discriminatory roadside sobriety testing. As it stands, only public employees of the district have any protection form discrimination by employers in the law, we recommend these protections are extended to all employees in all fields. The district must also keep landlords from unfairly denying patients housing or evicting them based on status. Finally, parental rights of any kind should not be denied based on a person’s status as a patient.