Much of the protestants’ concerns centered around the school kids’ exposure to medical cannabis clients, risk of a cash business and exposure to cannabis advertisement.
However Jason Peru, ABCA’s head enforcement officer, testified that I-71 shops are the ones that are overtly advertising.
“The licensed dispensaries in the District, you could probably walk by most of them and not even know they are there,” Peru said. The law limits how medical dispensaries advertise.
Tommy Moungkhounsavath, the owner of DC Smoke, testified that they chose the location for DC Smoke near BASIS DC due to its proximity to metro stations and the busyness of the commercial area.
“We’re willing to comply at every level to make sure that children and just the neighborhood in general is okay with us being there,” Moungkhounsavath said.
However, multiple witnesses representing the schools cited further costs for children supervision and drug education as well as safety concerns. Lawyers for DC Smoke labeled the protestants’ safety concerns as speculation and not based in fact.
The protesting witnesses conflated unlicensed shops with current medical dispensaries. None of them said they had visited a current medical facility. ABC board member, James Short encouraged them to do so to inform their perceptions and be “well
