To buy weed in DC legally, you have to go through a licensed medical cannabis dispensary — Congress still blocks the District from opening recreational stores, so there is no tax-and-regulate retail market of the kind you’d find in Colorado or California. The good news is that DC lets adults 21 and older self-certify as medical patients without a doctor’s recommendation, and that option is open to visitors as well as residents. Home growing is legal too, and unlicensed “gifting” shops still operate in a gray zone that regulators are steadily closing down.
Buying as a DC Resident
If you live in DC and you’re 21 or older, you can register as a medical cannabis patient by self-certifying online through the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. No doctor’s note, no diagnosis, no medical paperwork. You pick the self-certification option when submitting your application. Residents between 18 and 20 don’t get to self-certify and must submit a healthcare provider recommendation with their application.1Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. Patients – DC Residents
Digital registration fees are currently waived for DC residents. The card itself is free unless you want a physical copy, which costs $10. When fees aren’t waived, the standard rate is $100 or $25 at the reduced rate. Registration lasts two years.2Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. Medical Cannabis Patient and Facility Fees
Once you have your card, bring it and a government-issued photo ID every time you visit a dispensary.
Buying as a Visitor
You have two ways in. If your home state runs a medical cannabis program, DC honors your out-of-state patient card. Walk into any licensed dispensary with the card and a government ID and you can shop.3Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. Patients – Non-DC Residents
If you don’t have a home-state card, you can register for a temporary DC patient card online by self-certifying that you’ll use cannabis for medical purposes. Pick the length that fits your trip:
- 3 days: $10
- 30 days: $20
- 90 days: $50
- 180 days: $75
- 365 days: $100
Fees are non-refundable.2Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. Medical Cannabis Patient and Facility Fees
How Much You Can Buy
DC regulations cap dispensary sales at four ounces of dried medical cannabis (or the equivalent in other product forms) per patient at any one time or within a 30-day period.4DC Health. District of Columbia Municipal Regulations for the Medical Marijuana Program Once you leave the dispensary, a separate limit applies: adults 21 and older can possess up to two ounces at a time anywhere in DC that isn’t federal property.5D.C. Law Library. DC Code 48-904.01 – Prohibited Acts A; Penalties Possessing more than two ounces is a misdemeanor with up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
What About the Gifting Shops
DC voters approved Initiative 71 back in 2014, legalizing personal possession and home cultivation. A congressional spending rider, renewed every year since, blocks the District from setting up a system to tax and regulate recreational sales.5D.C. Law Library. DC Code 48-904.01 – Prohibited Acts A; Penalties That’s why the “gifting” market appeared: shops sell you a legal item like a t-shirt, sticker, or piece of art, then hand over cannabis as a free gift with purchase. Some run storefronts, others deliver.
Two things worth knowing before you buy this way. First, these operations sit outside any regulatory framework, so nothing about the product is tested or labeled to any standard. Quality varies wildly. Second, DC is actively shutting them down. Under the Medical Cannabis Conditional License and Unlicensed Establishment Closure Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2024, which took effect in July 2024, joint operations between ABCA and the Metropolitan Police Department have padlocked 99 illegal cannabis businesses.6Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. ABCA and MPD Shut Down Six Retailers for Illegal Cannabis Sales and Suspend Three Alcohol Licenses Some former gifting operations are being converted into licensed medical dispensaries. The shop you found online today may be gone next month.
The transfer rules that gifting supposedly relies on: an adult 21 or older can give up to one ounce to another adult 21 or older, but only if no money and nothing of value changes hands. Selling cannabis, trading it, or accepting any payment for it is illegal.5D.C. Law Library. DC Code 48-904.01 – Prohibited Acts A; Penalties
Growing Your Own Instead
Home cultivation is fully legal under Initiative 71 and is the one path that skips both the dispensary and the gray market. If you’re 21 or older, you can grow up to six plants inside your primary residence, with no more than three flowering at any given time. When more than one adult 21 or older lives in the household, the cap rises to 12 plants total, six of which can be flowering.5D.C. Law Library. DC Code 48-904.01 – Prohibited Acts A; Penalties
Plants have to stay inside and out of public view. Anyone under 21 is barred from growing at all, and doing so is treated as manufacturing under DC drug law, which carries serious criminal penalties.7Metropolitan Police Department. General Order 10.2 – Marijuana Offenses
Where You Cannot Use What You Buy
Buying is one thing; using is another. Consumption is restricted to private property with the owner’s permission. Streets, sidewalks, parks, alleys, parking lots, and vehicles all count as public spaces, and public consumption is a misdemeanor.8D.C. Law Library. DC Code 48-911.01 – Consumption of Marijuana in Public Space Bars, restaurants, and nightclubs also count, including any place marketed as “cannabis-friendly.” Landlords can ban cannabis use on rental property, and that ban is enforceable.
About 18 square miles of DC is federal land: the National Mall, the Capitol grounds, Rock Creek Park, Smithsonian museums, and every federal building. DC’s cannabis laws do not apply on any of it. Federal law does, and under federal law cannabis is a Schedule I controlled substance. A first offense for simple possession on federal property is a misdemeanor with up to a year in jail and a minimum $1,000 fine. If you’re staying near the monuments, leave the cannabis at your hotel when you head out to sightsee.
Driving under the influence of cannabis carries the same penalties as an alcohol DUI in DC: up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine for a first offense.9D.C. Law Library. DC Code 50-2206.13 – Penalties for Driving Under the Influence Keep anything you buy in a sealed container, out of reach in the vehicle, and don’t consume inside the car whether you’re driving or a passenger.5D.C. Law Library. DC Code 48-904.01 – Prohibited Acts A; Penalties