The number of warehouses where medical marijuana can be grown in Northeast D.C. has been capped after residents complained that their section of the city was too often a dumping ground for the city’s less attractive facilities. In an emergency measure approved by the D.C. Council on Tuesday, the number of medical marijuana cultivation centers allowed per ward was capped at six. The move cut off the possibility that Ward 5, which has large tracts of industrial zones, would be home to nearly all of the 10 centers allowed under D.C. rule. A cultivation center must be built on industrial-zoned land.
“There’s other wards in the city,” said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jacqueline Manning after the council vote. Manning was among those who had lobbied at-large Councilman Vincent Orange, a Ward 5 resident, for the cap. Ward 5 has been without direct representation on the council since former Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. resigned and pleaded guilty to federal charges nearly two weeks ago.
