In 2023, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration offered unlicensed gifting operators a window to apply to be legal medical cannabis dispensaries. Out of hundreds of shops in the city, a little over 70 applied.

The ones that applied through ABCA were safe from enforcement against gifting of cannabis while they transitioned to the legal market. Over the last year, only fourteen unlicensed cannabis dispensaries have successfully transitioned to the legal D.C. market as of Mar. 29, 2025.

The last ABC Board meeting before the deadline occurred this week, and only three new licenses were added to the licensing docket.

This means that at least 12 stores will fail to meet the deadline. If ABCA enforces the Mar. 31 deadline per guidance released in February 2025, 21 shops could face closure and loss of license if they are not open by end of day Monday.

The guidance states that shops must “have their retailer or internet retailer licenses issued and be in operation,” by Mar. 31, 2025.

If a business does not meet the deadline, they will “have its Board approval
rescinded or its license application denied by the Board,” according to the ABCA released guidance.

Enforcement begins April 1, 2025, according to the ABCA guidance. If ABCA follows through with its guidance, over 20 not yet opened businesses who were on the licensing docket but could not be open in 24hrs, could face immediate closure even if they stop gifting cannabis.

Even if half of the shops who made it to the license docket make Monday’s open deadline, a little over 30% of unlicensed applicants will have made the transition to the legal D.C. market. That’s as little as 10% of the entire cannabis gifting market in D.C. if considering the number of unlicensed shop according to ABCA regulators 2024 testimony to D.C. Council.

Below is a breakdown of the businesses facing the deadline. Please note that the categories are according to the most recent documents available and our reporting. To correct a placement, please reach out to ljdawson@outlawreport.com.

These businesses may or may not have their final license. Unfortunately, ABCA does not publicly announce when business are officially licensed. These are businesses that have appeared on the licensing docket which means they are able to submit their final papers.

These businesses are either listed on ABCA’s retail website or through other reporting we know they are open.