District Of Columbia § 7-1671.08(Perm) - Penalties.

Any person who makes a fraudulent representation to a law enforcement official of any fact or circumstance relating to the person's manufacture, cultivation, possession, administration, dispensing, distribution, or use of medical cannabis, or manufacture, possession, distribution, or use of paraphernalia to avoid arrest or prosecution shall be subject to a criminal fine not to exceed $1,000.

The imposition of the fine set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be in addition to any other penalties that may otherwise apply for the making of a false statement or for the manufacture, cultivation, possession, administration, dispensing, distribution, or use of cannabis, or the manufacture, possession, distribution, or use of paraphernalia.

Was in possession of medical cannabis only inside the qualifying patient's residence or a medical treatment facility;

Only administered or assisted in administering the medical cannabis to the qualifying patient and only within the qualifying patient's residence or at a permitted medical treatment facility;

Assisted the qualifying patient only when the caregiver was not reasonably available to provide assistance; and

Is 18 years of age or older.

For the first violation, the ABC Board may:

For any subsequent violations or if the unlicensed establishment fails to submit a remediation plan in accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection, or if the ABC Board rejects the unlicensed establishment's remediation plan, the ABC Board may issue additional fines as follows:

Revenue collected from fines imposed pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited as follows:

Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the ABC Board from issuing a cease-and-desist order or the closure of an unlicensed establishment for a first or subsequent violation of this subsection.

Notwithstanding and , ABCA shall have the authority to inspect the entire premises, inventory, and business records of an unlicensed establishment to determine whether the business is conducting activity in violation of . If, after an inspection, ABCA determines that an unlicensed establishment presents an imminent danger to the health or safety of the public, as described in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the ABC Board may summarily close and order the padlocking, by ABCA or MPD without a prior hearing, of the unlicensed establishment, and ABCA or MPD may seize all cannabis and cannabis products found at the premises.

For the purpose of this subsection, the term "imminent danger to the health or safety of the public" includes any of the following:

ABCA shall provide the unlicensed establishment's owner and the property owner with written notice of the summary closure and the right to request a hearing.

The owner of the unlicensed establishment shall have 5 business days after service of the notice of summary closure to request a hearing with the ABC Board, which shall hold a hearing within 5 business days of a timely request.

The ABC Board shall issue a written decision within 5 business days after the hearing.

ABCA or the Metropolitan Police Department may post signage at the site of the unlicensed establishment indicating that unlicensed activity has been found to have occurred for violations of .

If the ABC Board orders the closure of an unlicensed establishment, the ABC Board shall post 2 notices in conspicuous places at or near the main street entrance on the outside of the establishment.

The posted notice shall state that the closure is ordered because of a violation of or of the regulations promulgated pursuant to .

Any person willfully removing, obliterating, or defacing the notice shall be guilty of a violation of .

An ABCA investigator may test cannabis and cannabis products to quantify their THC content.

In any proceeding before the ABC Board, labeling or packaging in an unlicensed establishment that states that the product contains cannabis or tetrahydrocannabinol, whether in whole or in part, or a derivative thereof, shall create a presumption that the product contains cannabis and contains the amounts of the chemicals indicated on the label or packaging unless such presumption is overcome by a preponderance of evidence to the contrary.