Photo used under a Creative Commons license with trawin.

Medical marijuana may have become legal in the District in late July, but it won’t likely be available to patients until mid-2011.

According to a draft version of regulations governing medical marijuana circulated by the office of Mayor Adrian Fenty, the regulatory framework for dispensaries and cultivation centers won’t be fully set up until January 2011. And if and when it is set up, it will still take months for the dispensaries to set up shop and actually provide marijuana to qualifying patients.

The draft document proposes a three-tiered regulatory scheme, with the Department of Health laying out how the marijuana will be recommended and who it can be recommended to, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board establishing the rules for dispensaries and cultivation centers and the Metropolitan Police Department enforcing the provisions of the city’s medical marijuana law. Additionally, a seven-member Medical Advisory Committee will be established to “monitor best practices in other states, monitor scientific research on the use of medical marijuana, measure the effectiveness of the District’s medical marijuana program, [and] make recommendations when the Committee is asked to consult by other agencies.”