Marijuana Plant (Photo : Reuters)
In Washington D.C. the growing and possession of marijuana plants are now legal, but selling it in the U.S. capital is still illegal. The first legal cannabis harvest has produced an estimated 45 kilograms of pot with a street value of half a million dollars, creating a gray market in which production is greater than amateur gardeners' personal demand for weed smoking via joints, bowls, and bongs.
The District of Columbia (D.C.) legalized marijuana in February. Its first legal pot harvest is much greater than the cultivators can personally consume, yet they cannot legally sell the surplus plants.
This year's legal crop is a result of a ballot measure that D.C. voters passed last year. However, the extra pot creates a logistical issue for politicians and police: how the extra marijuana can be transferred from growers to users.
Some business owners are using the excess hemp as freebies. That includes gifts for paying customers or big tippers, or even cannabis cooking students.
Some growers have found innovative ways to distribute their surplus marijuana without technically selling it. They include delivering homegrown pot in exchange for "donations" to their companies.
The cause of the current situation is the gap period. In the District of Columbia the growing of marijuana is legal, the sale is illegal, and the product is unregulated.
The authors of last year's D.C. ballot measure had expected that if voters gave it a green light, a system of legal sales and taxation like the ones in Washington state and Colorado would be implemented. However, conservative Republicans in Congress blocked it.
The city's mayor and police chief stated in February that a marijuana gray market would be unacceptable. However, homicides have surged 40 percent in D.C., according to Stuff.
That has resulted in a cottage industry built around homegrown marijuana. The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) plant has become so tolerated in the city that the upcoming D.C. State Fair will include a "Best Bud" pot-growing contest.
In related news, a recent study shows that marijuana use among teens did not spike in Washington state and Colorado last year, where it was recently legalized, according to WBEX. Opponents of weed legalization had predicted that.
This video shows reactions after the first day of marijuana legalization in D.C.:
