As we have reported before, medical marijuana dispensaries are scheduled to start opening in our nation’s capital this spring. That means that medical cannabis will be sold just a few miles from institutions that claim it has no medicinal value, like the DEA and The White House.

How will the executive branch react to medical marijuana dispensaries approved by the federal legislative branch? That remains to be seen, but at best it will be an uneasy truce that could turn at any moment.

Under Washington D.C.’s law, medical marijuana patients will be able to carry up to 2 ounces of medicine for personal use, but only those who have one of a short list of terminal or chronic illnesses, including HIV, cancer and glaucoma. The city is expected to announce who will be able to open up shop by the end of this month.

These dispensaries and cultivation centers will stand as defiant monuments to the backwards thinking of the federal government when it comes to the medicinal value of cannabis.

- Joe Klare