When Bryan Jackson received a conditional grower's license for D.C.'s medical cannabis market in October 2023, it was a dream come true for the lifelong Washingtonian.
It was a moment he'd prepared for his whole career working in hydroponic cultivation and legal dispensaries in the DMV: a chance to legally grow and sell cannabis where he grew up. But a lack of access to funding and industrial real estate scarcity has deflated his dreams. Almost a year after his conditional license was approved, with no money and no place to grow, Jackson has all but given up on establishing a weed business in D.C.
"It was heart-wrenching. That's the only thing that I could say," Jackson says. He is not the only one.
Fewer than 10 percent of conditional medical cannabis grower and manufacturer licenses have been approved for a location by D.C. regulators, and none have opened as of Sept. 4, 2024. Meanwhile, more than 80 new cannabis retail locations are set to open in the next three months, raising significant concerns about where those dispensaries will get their weed.
Barriers to funding and real estate are preventing licensees from opening their businesses, thwarting D.C. politicians' efforts to squash the underground weed market, and bring cannabis consumers to legal, medical dispensaries. The lack of success is also impeding a promise to uplift Washingtonians most impacted by the criminalization of cannabis through a social equity program.
Read more on The Outlaw Report.