The District of Columbia is about to take a big step forward with its plan to allow medical marijuana.
According to the Washington Times, the District's health department will pick 20 of the 28 applications it received to open cultivation centers by this Friday. They plan to cut down that list to just ten by early March. The department also plans to begin picking its list of marijuana dispensaries.
Currently, the District has 17 applicants from people hoping to run dispensaries. That list will then be reduced to 5 applicants by the end of March.
A News4 I-Team report found that many of the dispensairies and cultivation centers are hoping to set up operations in Northeast Washington. Neighbors there are concerned the facilities will result in more crime in their area, and some have pushed to block the new operations.
Cultivation centers must meet tight restrictions on size, a stringent 95-plant allotment, staffing and lighting, in addition to the buffer zones between cultivation centers and schools. According to the Times, if the District sticks with its timeline, the program should reach fruition by this spring.
