I was on the metro last night chatting with a wise friend who told me: “I love me some DC.” As we parted ways at L’Enfant Plaza, they said that they wished they had the time to join me on my righteous mission down to Anacostia Organics, in one of the city’s great historic neighborhoods, declaring “You got a good night ahead of you!” They weren’t wrong. It had been too long since I’d been back to the very first DC neighborhood that welcomed me when I stumbled into town four years ago.
I, too, love me some DC. Hello again, Anacostia!
About Anacostia Organics
After some adroit research and advocacy work by DC political veteran, Linda Mercado Greene, Anacostia Organics (AO) became Ward 8’s first and only medical cannabis dispensary, and the sixth in the District.
Linda Greene was Chief of Staff for the beloved Mayor Marion Barry when he represented Ward 8 as a Councilmember, and she’d lived in the ward for 19 of her 46 years in Washington. When DC legalized medical cannabis in 2014, Greene took notice of the opportunity in her own neighborhood. Her research revealed that Wards 7 and 8 were then home to around 25 percent of the city’s card-holding patients, despite not having a dispensary east of the river. After Greene and her team convinced the Department of Health to urge people sitting on dispensary licenses to “use ‘em or lose ‘em,” she rolled up her sleeves and helped rewrite the city’s medical cannabis legislation before putting in an application of her own.
The team at Anacostia Organics (photo credit: @anacostiaorganics)The ribbon-cutting ceremony at AO was a momentous occasion: present were Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, and 15-term DC Congresswoman Eleanor Norton Holmes. On February 4th, 2019, Anacostia Organics was officially open for business as DC’s sixth medical marijuana dispensary.
Shopping at Anacostia Organics
Anacostia Organics sits on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. on a main drag of small businesses, a stone’s throw away from the neighborhood landmark known as “The Big Chair.”
You have a few options for getting to AO. You can take Metro’s Green Line Branch Avenue train and hop off at Anacostia Station. From there it’s an easy 10-minute walk to the dispensary. If you take the bus, the 90, P6, B2 and V2 buses all stop within sight of AO’s front door. If you are driving, you’ll find plenty of parking all around this dispensary.
When shopping at AO, you can either walk in and consult with a budtender, place a pick-up order online, or order for delivery. AO is open for pick-up from 11:15am-7:00pm Mon-Sat, and 12:15pm-4:00pm on Sundays. Check their website for delivery hours. If this is your first visit, I recommend you walk in since it’s easier to take care of your new patient paperwork. As a first-time patient, you’ll receive a 25 percent discount.
Anacostia Organics is a strictly medical dispensary, so you’ll need to have your valid photo ID and an active medical marijuana certification from your state or US territory (DC has reciprocity allowing out-of-state medical marijuana patients to purchase from licensed dispensaries).
When you’re ready, a budtender will walk you onto the sales floor and show you all of AO’s products. They’ll present you with the menu on a tablet, answer any questions you might have, and place your order for fulfillment. You’ll have to wait a moment while they put your order together, and then you’ll be called to the counter to check out.
What’s on the Menu at Anacostia Organics?
AO has an impressive menu, with probably the biggest selection of flower from Strane in DC (they might be the only place in town where you can find those iconic black round aluminum cans full of sticky goodness.) They also currently have all of the strains from AltSol, as well as District Cannabis, and a large selection of flower by Abatin Wellness.
If you’re a flower person, you won’t be disappointed by AO’s preroll menu. They also have an excellent selection of distillate cartridges and edibles.
Their concentrates menu really excited me. This dispensary has a killer selection of rosin strains available on medical markets here in DC, carrying samples that I’ve not seen in other dispensaries for a month or more.
AO also carries a Rick Simpson’s Oil THC/CBD 1:1, as well as a lot of hash and kief products. Plus they have a nice selection of tinctures and topicals.
Reviewed: Gelato Cake (District Cannabis)
District Cannabis was co-founded by medical cannabis patient Ed Weidenfeld and Kirschner. Operating in the District since 2017, District Cannabis has been putting out some of the best medical cannabis on the market in DC and Maryland, known for a few flagship strains and the consistency of their flowers’ quality across successive batches.
Gelato Cake in all its glory.The Gelato Cake by DC is one of my personal favorites—a real appetite booster and one of the strains I’ve been leaning on to help me eat in the evenings. Said to be a cross between Gelato #33 and Wedding Cake, this strain is known to knock you on your ass a bit, so if you are using it as an appetite stimulant and have a busy daytime schedule, reserve it for your pre-suppertime smoke and find an alternative for breakfast/lunchtime meals. It’s a great strain for joint and muscle pain relief.
Gelato Cake has an interesting mixture of floral and citrusy aromas. The buds are some of the frostiest I’ve purchased on the medical market here, and are sticky and resinous when broken up. In terms of moisture, “muwahhhh!” Perfect. Same with their manicure—not a needless stem or leaf is to be found on these beautiful buds.
Gelato Cake by District Cannabis can be found at most medical dispensaries here in D.C., but we suggest you head down to pick up an eighth of this awesome indica-dominate hybrid at Anacostia Organics and grab a couple of other tasty items you won’t find anywhere else in town!