The DC Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (“ABCA”) Enforcement Division continues to exercise its enforcement authority against allegedly unlawful cannabis and entheogenic mushroom businesses in the District. A wave of enforcement activity has occurred after the DC Council passed emergency legislation this summer aimed at expanding and clarifying the ABCA’s civil enforcement powers. The emergency legislation expressly granted ABCA investigators the authority to conduct announced and unannounced inspections of unlicensed establishments because these investigators need “clear statutory authority to summarily close [unlicensed] businesses and seize any cannabis contraband.”
The ABCA has carried out this legislative directive and, as of November 2024, reports having padlocked thirteen allegedly illegal businesses since the emergency legislation was passed. More broadly, the ABCA has issued 36 cease and desist orders and 93 written warning letters to unlicensed businesses to date.
Various cannabis related DC Code provisions are subject to emergency and temporary legislation like that described in this post, and businesses should take care to stay current with changes to the law.
References:
Emergency Legislation • Council of the District of Columbia
Press Releases | ABCA
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