Chairman Phil Mendelson of the D.C. council has led two failed efforts in the past year that would have imposed steep financial penalties for the brands that have operated under I71's banner (and their landlords- here's my analysis of the most recent bill's possible consequences).
There is little hope that the most socially equitable cannabis policy in the nation will continue on without government interference much longer, however. The last vote to shut them down failed by a single vote, and most of the Councilmembers that sided with I-71 did so because they didn't think ramming such important legislation through on an emergency basis was the correct course. Emergency legislation would have gone into effect immediately without any input from DC citizens, but now, we should expect two votes and a public hearing. Based on Martin Austermuhle's Twitter feed from the day of the vote, current thought is that the DC Council will vote to shut down the I-71 cannabis gifting late in 2022, but perhaps with some additional medical licenses being made available and held for Washington's unique legacy market entrepreneurs.
If you want to support their efforts to secure amnesty and a transition to the licensed program, please follow Generational Equity Movement and The I-71 Committee on Instagram!