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Anti-marijuana organizations are formally narcing on several locally licensed cannabis businesses in Washington, D.C.\u2014sending a letter to President Donald Trump, the U.S. attorney general and a federal prosecutor that identifies dispensaries they allege are too close to schools despite approval from District of Columbia officials.<\/p>\n
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Kevin Sabet and the head of a D.C. organization called \u201c1000 Feet\u201d recently sent the letter to the White House and DOJ, saying they \u201csupport prioritizing public safety and reducing drug use in the District of Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n
This comes as the president considers a proposal to federally reschedule cannabis, which he said last week will be decided imminently. The issue has divided key voices in the MAGA world<\/a>, and SAM is among the most vocal opponents of the reform.<\/p>\n But as Trump has moved to federalize D.C. law enforcement by putting DOJ and the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in positions of power to subvert local police control, the letter from the anti-cannabis groups encourages the administration to address the \u201congoing lawlessness\u201d allegedly associated with certain marijuana businesses in the jurisdiction.<\/p>\n Specifically, they say that over the last two years, \u201cthe DC government has licensed marijuana retailers to operate in close proximity to several elementary schools and daycare centers, over the strenuous objections of parents and educators, and in blatant violation of the Federal Drug-Free School Zones Act.\u201d<\/p>\n The groups said that while they were \u201cpleased\u201d to see former interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin \u201ctake initial steps against one of the worst offenders\u201d by threatening a locally licensed medical marijuana dispensary with criminal prosecution<\/a> back in March, \u201cwe have not seen any public progress since then.\u201d<\/p>\n Martin, for his part, has since been tapped by Trump to serve as U.S. pardon attorney<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope the initiative you announced this week will provide another opportunity for you to protect the District\u2019s children by taking swift action to close down all the offending marijuana retailers near schools and to inform the DC government that any further licensing of retailers at locations in violation of the Federal Drug-Free School Zones Act will be treated as a criminal conspiracy,\u201d SAM and 1000 Feet said<\/a> in the letter, which was sent on Friday.<\/p>\n NEW: Smart Approaches to Marijuana, with @1000FeetDC<\/a>, sent a letter to @realDonaldTrump<\/a>, @AGPamBondi<\/a>, and U.S. Attorney @JudgeJeanine<\/a> urging enforcement of the Drug-Free School Zones Act to shut down DC pot shops within 1,000 feet of schools\/daycares. Protect kids. Enforce the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/sEBsbQsI2a<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SAM (@learnaboutsam) August 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n In order to \u201cassist your evaluation of this situation,\u201d the organizations provided the names and locations of four D.C. cannabis dispensaries that they claim are violating federal zoning laws for businesses associated with Schedule I drugs like marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope the Administration prioritizes enforcing laws against marijuana near schools as part of its public safety initiative. However, if that broader initiative, no matter how impressive, still leaves marijuana retailers near elementary schools and daycares, it will have failed DC\u2019s children. We respectfully ask that your team enforce the Federal Drug-Free School Zones Act to end this nightmare and protect the children.\u201d<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, under D.C.\u2019s own cannabis rules, dispensaries can\u2019t operate within 300 feet of schools, though commercially zoned areas\u2014where schools may be located\u2014are exempt.<\/p>\n In a March 2024\u00a0letter, the District\u2019s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) argued federal law does not interfere with its medical marijuana program, which the agency said had \u201cbeen subject to congressional review, and has not been disapproved or repealed.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, meanwhile, the White House\u00a0called the District\u2019s move to decriminalize marijuana an example of a \u201cfailed\u201d policy that \u201copened the door to disorder.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In a fact sheet about an executive order that Trump signed\u2014which is broadly aimed at beautifying the District and making it more safe\u2014the White House listed several local policies in the nation\u2019s capital that it takes issue with, including cannabis reform. That\u2019s despite the president\u2019s previously stated support for a states\u2019 rights approach to marijuana laws.<\/p>\n \u201cD.C.\u2019s failed policies opened the door to disorder\u2014and criminals noticed,\u201d it says, citing \u201cmarijuana decriminalization,\u201d as well as the District\u2019s decision to end pre-trial detentions and enforcement practices around rioters, as examples of such policies.<\/p>\n \u2014 Recreational cannabis possession and personal cultivation is legal in D.C. under a voter-approved ballot initiative, though commercial sales of non-medical marijuana remain illegal.<\/p>\n Because of a congressional rider that\u2019s been renewed annually since that vote, the District hasn\u2019t been able to use its local funds to implement a system of regulated recreational cannabis sales, so officials have taken steps to expand the city\u2019s existing medical marijuana program as a workaround.<\/p>\n Last month, meanwhile, House lawmakers advanced a spending bill that would maintain the controversial provision barring D.C. from establishing a commercial marijuana market<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) criticized appropriators for putting forward a bill that restricts the District\u2019s autonomy in a number of ways, including the rider to \u201cprohibit the use of funds to commercialize recreational marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n Norton said in May that she would again\u00a0again push her colleagues to join her in an effort to remove the cannabis language<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s budget request that he released in June also contained the Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) rider preventing marijuana sales in D.C.<\/a>\u00a0Former President Joe Biden also repeatedly requested the continuation of the D.C. cannabis rider in budget proposals during his time in office.<\/p>\n While D.C. hasn\u2019t been able to use its local funds to implement a system of regulated recreational cannabis sales over the last decade, local officials have taken steps to expand the city\u2019s existing medical marijuana program as a workaround.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Anti-Marijuana Groups Narc On D.C. Dispensaries In Letter To Trump, Saying They Are Too Close To Schools<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Anti-marijuana organizations are formally narcing on several locally licensed cannabis businesses in Washington, D.C.\u2014sending a letter to President Donald Trump, the U.S. attorney general and a federal prosecutor that identifies dispensaries they allege are too close to schools despite approval from District of Columbia officials. Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":82860,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82861,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82859\/revisions\/82861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n
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\nRead More: Anti-Marijuana Groups Narc On D.C. Dispensaries In Letter To Trump, Saying They Are Too Close To Schools<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"