Committee of the Whole, Judiciary & Public Safety & Business & Economic Development Public Hearing

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE, COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY AND PUBLIC SAFETY NOTICE OF A PUBLIC HEARING 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004 CHAIRMAN PHIL MENDELSON COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE & COUNCILMEMBER KENYAN MCDUFFIE, CHAIR COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & COUNCILMEMBER CHARLES ALLEN, CHAIR COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY AND PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCE A PUBLIC HEARING on Bill 24-113, Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2021 Bill 24-118, Comprehensive Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Act of 2021 on Friday, November 19, 2021, 9:00 a.m. DC Council Website (www.dccouncil.us) Council Channel 13 (Cable Television Providers) Office of Cable Television Website (entertainment.dc.gov) Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, and Councilmember Charles Allen announce a joint public hearing of the Committee of the Whole, the Committee on Business and Economic Development, and the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety on Bill 24-113, the “Medical Cannabis Amendment Act of 2021,” and Bill 24-118, the “Comprehensive Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Act of 2021.” The hearing will be held on Friday, November 19, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. via Zoom videoconference. The purpose of Bill 24-113 is to allow qualifying medical cannabis patients to obtain medical cannabis and medical cannabis products from any dispensary in the District, to allow medical cannabis dispensaries to operate safe use treatment facilities and offer tastings, demonstrations or classes with proper endorsements, to allow dispensaries to deliver medical cannabis and medical cannabis products directly to qualifying patients, to allow all returning citizens to work at a medical cannabis business, to limit the crimes that would exclude someone from being an officer, owner or agent of a medical cannabis business to crimes involving gun violence or a gun offense, tax evasion, or fraud and credit card fraud occurring within the past three years, to eliminate the count on the number of plants a medical cannabis cultivation center may grow, to increase the number of permitted dispensaries from eight to 16 and increase the number of permitted dispensaries in each ward to two, and to exclude testing laboratory facilities when determining the cap on the number of cultivation centers in a ward. The purpose of Bill 24-118 is to establish a regulatory scheme to license and regulate the cultivation, production and retail sale of recreational cannabis in the District. The bill would establish an advisory committee to provide recommendations to the renamed Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration; set aside half of all new licenses for social equity applicants; establish a Cannabis Equity and Opportunity Fund to financially assist social equity applicants or provide technical assistance to these applications; to establish a Community Reinvestment Program Fund to provide grants to community-based organizations working on economic development, mental health and substance use treatment, civil legal aid in areas with high levels of gun violence, unemployment, or child poverty; to create license categories, fees, and qualifications for the cultivation, production, and sale of recreational cannabis; to establish minimum operating standards for recreational cannabis businesses; to establish penalties for recreational cannabis businesses that violate the law, require robust public education on the law and cannabis use; to establish a 13% tax on the sale of recreational cannabis and recreational cannabis products; to prohibit discrimination against residents engaging in the lawful use of cannabis; to expunge cannabis-related arrests and convictions; and to explicitly allow District-licensed banks to conduct business with licensed cannabis businesses. Those who wish to testify must register at https://chairmanmendelson.com/testify/ by the close of business on Wednesday, November 17, 2021. Testimony is limited to three minutes. Witnesses who anticipate needing spoken language interpretation or require sign language must inform the Committee office of the need as soon as possible but no later than five business days before the proceeding. We will make every effort to fulfill timely requests, although alternatives may be offered. Requests received in less than five business days may not be fulfilled. If you have additional questions, please contact Destiny Riley, Committee Assistant, at (202) 724-8196. The hearing will be conducted virtually utilizing Zoom videoconference technology. Because of this, written or transcribed testimony from the public is highly encouraged and will be taken by email or voicemail. Testimony may be submitted in writing to cow@dccouncil.us or may be left by voicemail (up to 3 minutes – which will be transcribed – by calling (202) 430-6948). Testimony received by close of business on November 17, 2021 will be posted publicly to http://www.chairmanmendelson.com/testimony prior to the hearing. If you are unable to testify at the hearing, written statements are encouraged and will be made a part of the official record. Written statements should be submitted to cow@dccouncil.us. The record will close on Friday, December 3, 2021.