Washington, D.C., voters approved medical marijuana with Initiative 59 on November 3, 1998, by 69% to 31%, but Congress blocked it through the Barr Amendment for more than a decade, and the first legal sale did not happen until July 29, 2013, at Capital City Care on North Capitol Street. The 15-year wait is the clearest example of how Congress’s control over the District shaped its marijuana laws, a pattern that continues today.
What Happened
1998: The vote nobody could count
Initiative 59, the “Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998,” went to District voters in November 1998. Before results were released, Congress passed an amendment from Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia to that year’s D.C. appropriations bill barring the city from spending money on the initiative, including on counting and announcing the vote. The ACLU sued, and in September 1999 a federal judge ruled the results could be released. The final tally was 75,536 yes to 34,621 no, or 69% (Initiative 59 history).
Barr responded with a new rider that blocked the initiative outright and barred D.C. from reducing penalties for any Schedule I drug. A federal judge struck down part of that ban on free speech grounds in March 2002, but the D.C. Circuit reversed in September 2002, which kept a second medical marijuana initiative, Initiative 63, off that November’s ballot.
2009 and 2010: Congress lets go
In December 2009, with Democrats controlling Congress, the House and Senate dropped the Barr language from the D.C. spending bill. The D.C. Council then wrote its own version of the program. Bill 18-622 passed on first and second readings on April 20 and May 4, 2010, Mayor Adrian Fenty signed it on May 21, and after the required congressional review it took effect on July 27, 2010, as D.C. Law 18-210 (D.C. Law Library). The Drug Policy Alliance noted that the Council passed it unanimously and that Congress let the review period expire (Drug Policy Alliance).
Why It Took Another Three Years
The 2010 law was tighter than Initiative 59. It limited qualifying conditions to HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, conditions causing severe and persistent muscle spasms such as multiple sclerosis, and patients undergoing certain treatments such as chemotherapy. It capped the city at five dispensaries and ten cultivation centers, and it gave regulators the job of picking every operator. Rules were finalized in late 2011, the city selected cultivation centers in March 2012, and our July 2012 report covered the selection of the first dispensary operators. Each business then needed a location, zoning approval, security build-out and a crop.
What Happened Next
Capital City Care opened on North Capitol Street, about a mile from the U.S. Capitol, on Monday, July 29, 2013. On opening day only nine people in the District were authorized to buy, seven of them registered with Capital City Care, each limited to two ounces every 30 days (HuffPost). NORML counted eight approved patient cards and about 20 participating doctors that week (NORML). Communications director Scott Morgan called it “a moment we’ve all been looking forward to for a long time.”
Congress was not done. After the Council decriminalized possession in 2014 and voters approved Initiative 71 that November, Congress added the Harris Rider, which has blocked the District from licensing adult-use sales ever since. The medical program became the only legal retail channel, which is why it matters far more in D.C. than in most states.
Where It Stands in 2026
D.C. has widened the medical program the 1998 voters created: adults 21 and older can now self-certify as patients online and buy from licensed medical retailers regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. Our guide to how to buy weed in D.C. explains the process, and our Washington, D.C. marijuana laws guide covers possession, gifting and home grow. For the adult-use side of the story, see our history of Initiative 71.
D.C. Initiative 59 Medical Marijuana FAQ
What was D.C. Initiative 59?
A 1998 ballot measure, the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative, approved by 69% of District voters. Congress blocked it with the Barr Amendment.
What was the Barr Amendment?
A rider by Rep. Bob Barr to D.C. appropriations bills that first stopped the city from counting the Initiative 59 vote and then barred it from implementing medical marijuana. Congress dropped it in December 2009.
When did D.C.’s first medical marijuana dispensary open?
Capital City Care made the first legal sale on July 29, 2013.
When did D.C.’s medical marijuana law take effect?
The Council’s implementing law, D.C. Law 18-210, took effect July 27, 2010, after congressional review. Sales began three years later.
Originally reported by The Weed Street Journal; rewritten and updated in October 2026 with what happened next.