Smoke and Vape Shop Opens in Glover Park

A smoke and vape shop has opened at 2319 Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park last week, after Chase Bank vacated and removed its ATM machine months ago. The staff member on duty claimed that no cannabis products are sold there, only cigarettes and cigars, though the store is stocked with marijuana pipes, flavored tobacco, THC vapes, hemp products and shiny, colorful packets with pictures of marijuana flowers on them.

Back in 2017, the upstairs space had been the scene of a dramatic drug bust on an illegal gifting operation, soon before the city stopped cracking down on these. As a result of the easing of enforcement, over 100 such gifting shops sprouted up across the city, now resulting in more complaints both from the public and the legal cannabis operators who are licensed and regulated by the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration. These legal “medical dispensaries” bear the burden of high licensing and management costs, detailed reporting requirements, ANC review, DC Health Department rules and ABCA oversight. The illegal gifting shops have no such burdens other than corporate licensing and a certificate of occupancy, so they can sell their products unfettered and for lower cost.

The legal dispensaries have formed an organization called the Alliance of Legal Cannabis Entities DC, and sued 16 gifting shop operators in DC as well as over a dozen associated property owner and other business entities last October in federal court (US District court for DC). The sprawling lawsuit is connected with another class action with 135 defendants as well as seven other such lawsuits in DC. One of the defendants is Amru Ousman – the owner/operator of Glover Tobacco. The plaintiff in the lawsuit claims he owns two unlicensed cannabis dispensaries – Havana Georgetown and Havana Capitol Hill as well as operates a third – Havana Smoke Shop in Tenleytown – through his company AMEL LLC, which has registered with DC Corporations with the trade name Glover Tobacco. The other beneficial owner of AMEL is Elshaday Belay, who appears to be a prominent orthopedic surgeon in Virginia. Ousman was warned last summer by ABCA about illegal unlicensed cannabis operations taking place at the Capitol Hill location.

The lawsuit singles out Amru Ousman to “pierce the corporate veil” between the multiple dispensaries and corporate names, and “Defendant Ousman.” The lawsuit associates him with Georgetown I Inc. - a.k.a. Havana Max, a.k.a. Havana Georgetown Dispensary; Pen I Inc – a.k.a. Havana Tobacco Mart, a.k.a. Havana Capitol Hill Dispensary. The third in Tenleytown is part of a separate lawsuit, and the newly opened Glover Tobacco is not identified in the 10/11/24 lawsuit.

The multiple allegations made by the Alliance of Legal Cannabis Entities for false and misleading claims and illegal sales are detailed and compelling, and readily apparent in-store and online. They are seeking relief by having the judge order the permanent shutdown of all 16 illegal dispensary defendants. In addition they seek equitable relief in petitioning the court to order the disgorging* of all profits earned by these businesses in the past three years, amounting to over $13 million, with the big winner (or loser) identified as Havana Georgetown at $5.4 million (Ousman’s biz). In addition they appear to request that the judge disgorge the rental income that the property owners earned as well, at over $6.5 million. The case is in the early stages and considering the number of defendants and related cases, is a monumental task for Judge Loren AliKhan to manage. Hope she does not have summer vacation plans. Judge AliKhan was appointed to the U.S. District bench in December 2023 after serving on the DC Court of Appeals. Welcome to the complicated world of legal and illegal marijuana in DC!

Personally, I don’t care whether people use it or not as long as it is within the law. That means not on the sidewalk and in parking garages where I need to inhale it and especially not puffing away behind the wheel while people driving the three cars behind you need to close their vents to avoid reeking for the rest of the day. Stay tuned to see if Glover Tobacco is added to the lawsuit….

* Legal meaning of disgorgement: the forced repayment of ill-gotten gains to those who suffered from the wrongdoing.

 Chris Jones