DC Council Approves Medical Marijuana

Happy 4/20 day, America: Legal marijuana could be available in the nation's capital in a matter of months. The city council of Washington DC today approved the sale of medicinal pot from sanctioned distribution centers, the Post reports. People who have HIV, cancer, glaucoma and the ever-vague "chronic and lasting disease" would be able to partake with doctor's permission. A second, final vote comes next month, and Congress would then review it under Home Rule.

"Our goal with this legislation is to make it very difficult for Congress to fault it and overturn it," one advocate tells the Post. "These dispensaries are going to look more like pharmacies than they are hash bars, and that is a good thing." Critics, however, say restrictions on the dispensaries—including the mandate of "pharmaceutical grade" pot and a limit of 95 plants at each site—will make it difficult to attract growers. (More marijuana stories.)