Local

First D.C. medical marijuana dispensaries open

AIDS activists hail development; cautious reaction from federal prosecutor

Published

11 years ago

August 14, 2013

Capital City Care, gay news, Washington Blade

Capital City Care sold its first doctor-approved dose of medical marijuana to an HIV-positive man on July 29. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Advocates for people with AIDS and other serious illnesses breathed a sigh of relief three weeks ago when the first of three dispensaries approved by the D.C. Department of Health to sell medical marijuana opened its doors about a mile north of the U.S. Capitol.

Capital City Care, located in a converted townhouse at 1334 North Capitol St., N.W., sold its first doctor-approved dose of high-grade cannabis to an HIV-positive man on July 29, 15 years after D.C. voters approved a 1998 ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana in the nation’s capital.

Medical marijuana advocates in D.C. said initial concerns that dispensaries could only accept payments in cash for a typical purchase of $250 or more and that the dispensaries would be located in unsafe neighborhoods, subjecting buyers to potential muggings, were largely unfounded.

Although the cultivation centers where the marijuana will be grown are in remote warehouse sections of Northeast D.C., most of the dispensaries are expected to open in safe neighborhoods, according to Ben Young, chief of staff for D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At-Large), who wrote the implementing legislation for the medical marijuana law.

One of the other two dispensaries that have so far been approved for a license, Takoma Park Wellness Center, recently opened in the city’s Takoma Park neighborhood at 6925 Blair Rd., N.W. The other one, Metropolitan Wellness Center, just opened near the Eastern Market Metro station on Capitol Hill at 409 8th St., S.E.

And officials with Capital City Care say they will soon provide a shuttle service to drive patients to and from central locations downtown or to a nearby Metro station. The officials also note that payment for marijuana supplies can be made by bank debit cards, although banks won’t allow patients to pay by credit card or check.

D.C.’s medical marijuana law encountered the first in a series of roadblocks shortly after the 1998 ballot measure passed with nearly 70 percent of the votes cast when Congress intervened by preventing the law from being implemented for more than a decade. When Congress finally lifted its hold on the law in 2009, the City Council and D.C. Department of Health began a laborious process of developing strict rules and procedures for licensing and approving cultivation centers and the dispensaries.

“It’s really gratifying that this 15-year journey has moved to where we are now,” said D.C. attorney Wayne Turner, who, in his role as a gay rights and AIDS activist, was among the leaders of the campaign in support of the 1998 ballot initiative.

“We still have Congress looming over our head,” he said. “And we have an administration that is not that supportive.”

(Photo courtesy of Capital City Care)

With that as a backdrop, both AIDS activists and D.C. government officials have said the additional four years it has taken to get the medical marijuana program up and running appears to have helped the city avoid some of the pitfalls encountered by medical marijuana programs in other states, such as California and Colorado.

Among the problems encountered by states that legalized medical marijuana in the past were threats by federal law enforcement officials to shut down the cultivation centers and dispensaries and arrest the people operating them by invoking federal drug laws under which marijuana remains illegal.

Federal law enforcement officials have backed down from those threats following strong objections raised by elected officials in the states that have legalized medical marijuana. But with the sale of marijuana for medical purposes set to begin in D.C., banks and credit card companies informed the Capital City Care dispensary that they would not approve payment for marijuana by credit card or check.

“They said the reason is the banks may not be able to file suit and go after someone for a bad debt if the sale is not legal under federal law,” said Patricia Hawkins, an official with the D.C. Community AIDS Network, which is partnering with Capital City Care to provide counseling services for its marijuana clients.

Hawkins, the former deputy director of the then Whitman-Walker Clinic, said banks have agreed to allow Capital City Care and other dispensaries expected to open soon to accept payment by bank debit cards, giving patients the option of paying by debit card or cash.

Meanwhile, spokespersons for the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. told the Blade in separate statements that they don’t expect to go after the city’s medical marijuana dispensaries or cultivation centers for violating federal drug laws.

“The Department of Justice has advised U.S. Attorneys that prosecution of significant drug traffickers, including marijuana, remains a core priority of the Department, but that focusing enforcement efforts on individuals with cancer and other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen likely is not an efficient use of federal resources,” DOJ spokesperson Allison Price told the Blade in an email.

Matthew Jones, a spokesperson for Ronald Machen Jr., the U.S. Attorney for D.C. who serves as the city’s chief prosecutor, released a similar statement to the Blade.

“With respect to medical marijuana, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will abide by the Justice Department guidance issued to prosecutors that it is not an efficient use of resources to focus enforcement efforts on individual patients with cancer or other serious illnesses, or on individual caregivers who are not engaged in the commercial cultivation, sale, or distribution of marijuana,” Jones said.

Scott Morgan, a spokesperson for Capital City Care, said that under rules established by the D.C. DOH anyone seeking to buy marijuana under the city’s medical marijuana program must meet three requirements. They must have been diagnosed with at least one of several specified illnesses or conditions, including HIV/AIDS, cancer, MS, and glaucoma.

Next, they must be approved for marijuana treatment by a doctor licensed to practice in D.C. and who has been approved by the DOH to refer patients for marijuana treatment. And finally, the patient must be a D.C. resident.

A price list available on the Capital City Care website shows that a variety of strains of marijuana are available but all sell for $380 or more for an ounce. Patients can buy smaller quantities for as low as $20 for a gram.

Although the cost of marijuana on the street through the black market is about the same or possibly a little less, medical marijuana advocates such as Turner caution patients against buying their supplies on the street.

“You don’t know what you’re getting on the street,” Turner said. “Some impurities are mold and mildew. And that is harmful to people with an impaired immune system.”

Morgan said Capital City Care’s cultivation center is operated like a pharmaceutical factory where strict standards of cleanliness and organic growing conditions are employed to ensure that the marijuana is pure and free of contaminants.

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Virginia

Man went on ‘homophobic rant’ inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags

Suspect arrested on charges of public intoxication, assaulting police officer

Published

11 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Justin Wayne Hendricks was arrested in the case. (Photo courtesy of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center)

The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a “homophobic rant” inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month.

“Last night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,” the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. “He then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,” the posting continues.

“Our manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,” the message says. “We want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response. We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,” the statement concludes.

Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being “drunk in public” and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer. A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

The spokesperson, Juan Vazquez, said Hendricks is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Online records for the Fairfax County General District Court show that Hendricks is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9.

“On Friday, June 28, around 9:28 p.m. the Vienna Police Department responded to reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers of the Hawk & Griffin,” a Vienna police statement says. “Upon the arrival of the officers the individual had already left the premises but was promptly located at an address nearby,” according to the statement.

The statement adds that Hendricks was subsequently charged with being drunk in public, providing false information about his identity to police, and assault on a police officer along with being served with the outstanding warrant related to the prior charge in Alexandria of failing to register as a sex offender.

Details of the prior sex offender charge couldn’t immediately be obtained from online court records. However, the online records show that Hendricks has at least a dozen or more prior arrests between 2014 and 2023 on charges including public intoxication, trespassing, and failing to register as a sex offender.

Police spokesperson Vazquez said it would be up to prosecutors with the office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney to determine if a subsequent hate crime related charge would be filed in the case.

Virginia

Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.

Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2024

Sean Koperek

Shi-Queeta-Lee at Arlington Pride in Arlington, Va., on June 29, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Activists across Virginia last month held a series of events to mark Pride Month.

Hampton Roads Pride, a volunteer-run organization founded in 1997, held 37 different Pride events throughout the region in June.

Their biggest event, PrideFest, which is part of their larger three day event, Pride Weekend, celebrated its 36th anniversary on June 22. Pride Weekend took place from June 21-23 and began with a block party at NorVa in Norfolk.

PrideFest took place at Town Point Park, and an estimated 30,000 people attended. More than 70 venders participated, while Todrick Hall and Mariah Counts are among those who performed.

Another PrideFest event with a DJ in the afternoon and live music at night took place in Virginia Beach on June 23. Congressman Bobby Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among those who attended Pride events in Suffolk on June 30.

Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, along with members of the Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Councils, also attended the Pride events in their respective cities. Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, also took part.

“You know people all throughout Pride Month, at all of our various events, tell me all kinds of stories about their own experiences and the past of this community … and some of our older folks especially, remember when we couldn’t have this,” Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.

“It was a great year,” he added. “It was a big achievement for us to have unique celebrations in each of our seven communities. Each of these cities is so different from one another, but to be able to create a Pride celebration that’s unique in each of those places was really great, and I think really well received by folks who may not have felt represented previously. We’re always trying to do better, to embrace every aspect of our community, and take a big step forward there this year.”

State Dels. Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) and Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington County) are among those who spoke at Arlington Pride that took place at Long Bridge Park on June 29. The Fredericksburg Pride march and festival took place the same day at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg.

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 10 hosted a Pride Month reception in Richmond.

Youngkin in previous years has hosted Pride Month receptions, even though Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups have criticized him for supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.

The Republican governor in March signed a bill that codified marriage equality in Virginia. Youngkin last month vetoed a measure that would have expanded the definition of bullying in the state.

Baltimore

Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist

Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.

Published

2 days ago

July 1, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Iya Dammons was honored last week in Baltimore. (Photo courtesy Iya Dammons)

Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.

A section of Baltimore’s 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.

The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.

A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women “navigating survival mode” living.

“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.

Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.

“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”