Washington D.C. voters approved a medical marijuana [link|http://hightimes.com/news/mike_hughes/6082|initiative in 1998]. However, Congress hijacked the initiative for over a decade by attaching a provision to D.C. funding bills (i.e. if the District of Columbia implemented the voter-approved medical marijuana initiative, it would lose its funding).
 
Last summer marijuana for medicinal use became legal in Washington D.C at long last. Unfortunately, residents are still waiting for the program to take effect. 
 
The District of Columbia Patients Cooperative (DCPC) – a non-profit formed “to provide high quality and affordable medical ‘marijuana’ to qualifying DC patients” – along with Americans for Safe Access will host a Town Hall meeting this Thursday, February 10 in order to help frustrated residents better understand D.C.’s medical cannabis program.
 
According to a DCPC board member, “We have been collecting questions about the medical marijuana program from the public and it’s clear there is a lot of confusion out there. We will cover different topics concerning how the patient registration process will work, as well as the rules surrounding the cultivation and dispensing of the medicine.”
 
Washington D.C. officials, including Mayor Vincent Gray, have been invited to attend the event and speak to patients. However, none have agreed to be present – including the author of the new medical marijuana law. A DCPC board member explained the frustration: “We’ve begged the city to speak to the community of patients here. It is as if the new administration thinks sick and dying patients can be ignored and treated like criminals for another year. The only thing criminal going on is that we have waited a year for this DC medical marijuana program to start.”
 
More @ [link|http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/february-10-town-hall-meeting-to...|prnewswire.com]