A group of Northwest D.C. residents, as well as one of D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, is going to court to stop new cannabis dispensaries from opening up, saying the locations they’ve chosen are too close to schools and the city isn’t listening to their concerns.
The case has been appealed to the D.C. Court of Appeals and was filed by a group called 1,000 Feet, which is made up of residents in D.C.’s Palisades neighborhood, as well as ANC-2C.
“We want to protect D.C. kids from unnecessary exposure to drugs,” said Lucy Sullivan, speaking on behalf of 1,000 Feet. “We don’t believe that marijuana stores should operate across the street or next door to schools, and the D.C. government has been allowing that. And we think it’s a real danger to kids and communities.”
Currently, the city requires 300 feet of distance between cannabis dispensaries and schools or day care facilities, but there are some loopholes in the law. Sullivan said even 300 feet is too lenient, and said the city should abide by the 1,000 feet rule described in the Federal Drug Free School Zone Act, which prohibits the sale of illegal drugs within 1,000 feet of public or