B 25-0770 — Medical Cannabis Program Enforcement Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2024

_____________________________ENROLLED CouncilmemberORIGINAL CharlesAN AllenACT 4 A BILL 7 ______________ 9 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA _____________________ To amend, on an emergency basis, due to congressional review, the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1999 to provide that it is unlawful for a licensed or unlicensed cultivation center, manufacturer, retailer, or internet retailer to represent that goods or services or the business is compliant with the Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Initiative of 2014, to authorize the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board to extend the 45-calendar day public comment period by an additional 30-calendar days in response to a written request submitted by either an affected Advisory Neighborhood Commission or the applicant, to clarify that an Advisory Neighborhood Commission within 600 feet of where an establishment is or will be located has standing to protest the issuance of a license to an unlicensed cultivation center, manufacturer, retailer, or internet retailer, to align the enforcement procedures with those provided in Title 25 of the District of Columbia Official Code, and to clarify that the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board has the authority to issue cease-and-desistcease-and- desist orders mandating compliancewithcompliance theprovisionsoftheMedicalwith the provisions of the Medical Cannabis Program;

andtoand to amend the Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2022 to clarify that the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board has authority to enforce against commercial property owners of properties that are used to operate illegal cannabis businesses.

Official Code § 7-1671.06) is amended by adding a new subsection (c-(c-1) 1) to read as follows:

“(c-1) It shall be a violation of this act for any unlicensed or licensed cultivation center, manufacturer, retailer, or internet retailer to represent that goods or services or the business is compliant with the Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal ENROLLED ORIGINAL Use Initiative of 2014, effective February 26, 2015 (D.C.

“(h)(1) The ABC Board shall provide notice of complete and eligible cultivation center, retailer, and internet retailer license applications received from unlicensed establishments to the Ward Councilmember, and any Advisory Neighborhood Commission within 600 feet of where the establishmentisorwillbelocated(“affectedANC”),fora45-calendardaypubliccommentperiod.establishment is or will be located (“affected ANC”), for a 45-calendar day public comment period.

TheABCBoardmayextendthepubliccommentperiodrequiredbythisparagraphbyanadditionalThe ABC Board may extend the public comment period required by this paragraph by an additional 30-calendar days in response to a written request submitted by either an affected ANC or the applicant.

“(2)Cannabisoracannabisproductontheexteriorofanywindoworontheexterior“(2) Cannabis or a cannabis product on the exterior of any window or on the exterior or interior of any door;

“(f) Beginning January 31, 2024, the ABC Board may issue the following fines to an unlicensed establishment that violates section 7(c-1) or section 7b(e), or has not filed an accepted and pending application with the ABC Board and knowingly engages or attempts to engage in the purchase,sale,exchange,purchase, delivery,oranyotherformofcommercialtransactioninvolvingcannabissale, exchange, delivery, or any other form of commercial transaction involving cannabis that is not purchased, sold, exchanged, or delivered in accordance with the provisions of this act or section 401 of the District of Columbia Uniform Controlled Substances Act of 1981, effective August 5, 1981 (D.C.

84ENROLLED ORIGINAL “(A) Issue a fine in the amount of $10,000;

and “(3) For any subsequent violations or if the unlicensed establishment fails to submit a remediation plan in accordance with paragraph (2) of this subsection, or iftheif the ABC Board rejects the unlicensed establishment’s remediation plan, the ABC Board may issue additional fines.”.

“(a)Anapplicantforalicense,andeachlicensee,shallallowanyABCAinvestigator,agent“(a) An applicant for a license, and each licensee, shall allow any ABCA investigator, agent of the ABC Board, or any member of the Metropolitan Police Department full opportunity to examine, at any time during business hours:

“Ifasearch“If a search warrant is issued byanyjudgeoftheSuperiorCourtofby theDistrictofColumbiaany judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia or by a United States Magistrate for the District of Columbia for premises where any cannabis products are sold, exchanged as part of a commercial transaction, delivered, or permitted to be consumed in violation of this title, the cannabis product and any other property designed for use in connection with the unlawful manufacture for sale, keeping for sale, selling, or consumption may be seized and shall be subject to such disposition as the court may make thereof.

ENROLLED ORIGINAL “Sec.

“(b) If a licensed establishment is the subject of an incident report by the Metropolitan PoliceDepartment,Police Department, the MetropolitanPoliceDepartmentshallMetropolitan fileacopyPolice oftheincidentDepartment reportwithshall file a copy of the incident report with the ABC Board within 30-calendar days after the incident.

ENROLLED ORIGINAL (ii) Subparagraph (C) is amended by striking the phrase “D.C.

“(A)TheABCBoardshallrequirethecommercialpropertyownertosubmit“(A) The ABC Board shall require the commercial property owner to submit a remediation plan within 14 days after the notice of a fine under paragraph (1) of this subsection to the ABC Board that contains the commercial property owner's plan to prevent any future violations of section 9(f) of the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1999, effective July 27, 2010 (D.C.

ENROLLED ORIGINAL (2) Subsection (c)(2) is amended by striking the phrase “this act” and inserting the phrase “the provisions identified in subsection (a) of this section” in its place.

This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and shall remain in effect for no longer than 90 days, as provided for emergency acts of the Council of the District of Columbia in section 412(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat.

______________________________ Chairman Council of the District of Columbia _________________________________ Mayor District of Columbia 6