DC crackdown shutters 25 unlicensed marijuana stores

Authorities in Washington, D.C., say they have shut down 25 unlicensed marijuana “gifting stores” over the past six months.

Using new powers granted in 2024, the District of Columbia’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Authority (ABCA) has been cracking down on unlicensed retailers who refuse to operate as regulated medical marijuana businesses.

In the first two months of 2025 alone, 38 retailers had either received licenses to operate as legal MMJ dispensaries or shut down their businesses, according to a news release from the district’s attorney general, Brian Schwalbe.

The 25 shuttered stores identified in Schwalb’s release have either been “closed or have come into compliance” with district law, he said.

Authorities also have “brought action” against another 13 shops, Schwalb said.

He did not indicate which shops were closed and which were now licensed.

Through July 2024, 60 illegal cannabis sellers had been issued warnings under the ABCA’s new powers, with 24 receiving cease-and-desist letters.

Adult-use cannabis possession and consumption is legal in the nation’s capital.

However, with Congress having wielded its power to thwart recreational marijuana sales in the district, an illicit market has flourished to meet demand.

D.C. voters approved a medical marijuana program in 2014.

But, as of January 2025, there were only 12 legal MMJ dispensaries in the district.

According to Schwalb, authorities conducting the recent enforcement raids found cannabis that tested “positive for other narcotics, including amphetamines and psilocybin.”

There are as many as 100 illicit shops remaining in the district, D.C.-based NPR radio station WAMU reported.