Most Innovative Way to Pay the Rent in 2017 -- DC's Reefer Rent Parties

• December 18th 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

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UrbanTurf usually stays away from publishing rankings or lists…except at the end of the year when we look back at what DC’s residential real estate scene had to offer during the previous 12 months. So, this week we are looking at not only the best but the most intriguing and peculiar things that came across our radar over the course of 2017. Enjoy.

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Years after Initiative 71, a ballot initiative legalizing recreational marijuana, passed in the District, Congress has consistently passed riders blocking the city from enforcing a regulatory framework for that industry. In response, city residents have gotten creative in finding ways to partake, as well as benefit financially — including through cannabis home parties.

As adult home use is one of the major tenets of the vaguely-regulated recreational market, Washingtonians have been taking advantage, inviting others into their homes — for a donation — to indulge in cannabis use and browse ancillary and cannabis-derived products made or distributed by local “ganja-preneurs”. One of the founders of a Facebook group created to help people find 420-friendly rental accommodations began offering services this year to help put these parties together and explained how they work to UrbanTurf.

Homeowners or renters advertise their home for “420 parties”, which can see a few hundred guests, each paying a roughly $5 donation at the door, over the course of a few hours. There are usually five to seven vendors with their own tables, a DJ, and indoor/outdoor seating areas at the party that allow guests a relaxing area to partake in the bud they brought or the gifts they received. Some hosts have thrown more than one party over the span of a day or a weekend, which can result in quite the financial windfall.

Kevin, owner of edibles vendor Wake n Bake Goodz DC, has attended these parties (although he hesitates to vend at one without a legal framework being in place) and explains that the parties are “mostly networking”.

However, neighbors of cannabis events haven’t always been sympathetic. This spring, Hill East residents in ANC 6A lodged a complaint against Puff, Pass, and Paint (PP&P), a Denver-based company that hosts “sip and paint”-style classes in a handful of cities nationwide. The events draw about 20 people paying $50 each and bringing their own cannabis or beer along to a painting class.

While the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCRA) granted PP&P a business license and Home Use Permit, neighborhood disdain over the business operating in their midst led ANC 6A to vote to petition DCRA’s licensure. It is unclear whether DCRA received that petition or what the status of any appeal is; however, PP&P seems to have set their eyes on Columbia Heights, even offering Groupon deals to those interested in pot and painting.

A potential silver lining in all of this? The temporary Congressional budget bill that recently passed did not include any riders preventing DC from implementing Initiative 71.

The Rest of UrbanTurf’s Year in Review

• The Best Listing of 2017 (For the the Mere Mortal)
• The Best Real Estate Deal of 2017 (With a Catch)—Two Free Houses For Curbside Pickup
• The Best Furnishings For a Studio Apartment: Automated Furniture
• The Best New Apartment Views in DC: Right Into Nats Park
• The Best House Transformation That We Will Never Get to See
• The Best Listing of 2017 (For the Well-Paid Lobbyist)
• DC’s Most High Line-Like of High Line Spin-offs — Transforming the Georgetown Canal

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/most_innovative_way_to_pay_the_rent_--_dcs_reefer_rent_parties/13337.