Over 800 D.C. residents showed up for the nations largest public (yet legal) drug deal. With police officers looking on, hundreds of hopefuls lined up hours before the scheduled start time at Libertine in Adam’s Morgan. Everyone left happy with small baggies of their very own marijuana seeds just one month after Initiative 71 was passed into law.
With at least 16,000 legal plants expected to be grown from this seed share, amateur growers will have a legal crop of cannabis ready by the end of the summer. With an average of 2.5 ounces per plant (it is usually between 1.5 and 3.5 ounces), there will be a crop of more than 40,000 ounces, or 2,500 pounds, on the streets.
Although buying and selling marijuana is still against the law, possession, gifting up to one ounce, and consumption on private property is legal. A prohibition by Congress kept Washington, D.C. from enacting a regulatory system for legal sales and taxation of the crop.
Due to this, many residents have had trouble finding a legal way to obtain seeds or plants. Before this seed share, residents were put at risk by illegally transporting seeds across state lines and will continue to do so until a system is in place to allow them to obtain seeds, plants, and finished product legally.
Further confusion and debates over the legalization process also skimmed over the fact that the seeds distributed in D.C. are untraceable. This could allow a “gray market” for trading and other ways to make profits from legalization.
Seeds raised for commercial sale in Colorado are tracked by a 24-digit RFID. Sales are taxed by the government, with most of the money going to education. Without this regulation, thousands of plants will be growing without any oversight or taxes for the city.
D.C law enforcement were on scene to direct traffic as needed, but did not protest or give any attention to the event since “seed sharing is not prohibited,” according to D.C. police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump. About 50 people brought seeds to share, with little bags of 10 to 20 seeds being distributed to attendees of the event.
There is another giveaway scheduled for this Saturday, March 28, 2015 at the DC Cannabis Campaign Headquarters on Massachusetts Avenue off Dupont Circle. Under city election laws, this will be the last of the campaign’s public events. DC Cannabis Campaign Head Adam Eidinger says, “Once the campaign is over, we won’t be doing this every year. This is a one-time deal.”
So get out there and get your own seeds to support the Legal Cannabis Movement in DC! Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date and learn how you can help legalize cannabis in your state!