A rendering of what a Columbia Rd. NW dispensary operated by Montel Williams would look like.

While the majority of the District’s likely medical marijuana cultivation centers are clustered in Ward 5, the 17 applicants for licenses to run the five dispensaries that will provide marijuana to qualifying patients are spread all over town — so much so that only Ward 7 missed out on a location.

A review of the applications submitted to the Department of Health shows possible dispensaries all the way from a mini commercial strip along MacArthur Boulevard NW to the burgeoning nightlife destination of H Street NE, with plenty of destinations in between.

A Foggy Bottom resident could make their way to a 2,000 square-foot seventh-floor office on M Street NW in the West End, while someone in Adams Morgan could visit the Montel Williams-run dispensary along Columbia Road NW, a 3,600 square-foot store that used to be a Foot Action USA. (A rendering included with his application is above.) Residents of the District’s upper reaches would have two choices — Blair Road and Chillum Place — while Shaw could well get two dispensaries next door to each other on Seventh Street NW and Capitol Hill could see a Barracks Row dispensary. A few of the dispensaries would be attached to cultivation centers, two in Ward 5 and one in Ward 8.

The geographic distribution of the potential dispensaries will likely calm some of the nerves of Ward 5 residents, who have complained that they’re getting the stuff no one else wants dumped in their backyards. In recent meetings, in fact, some of them expressed more concerns over dispensaries, saying the a potential thief could simply stand outside and wait for a patient to emerge with their monthly two-ounce supply.

Also, patients and their caregivers benefit from having a potential dispensary closer to home. Cultivation centers can be clustered since no one but employees will be able to enter them, but dispensaries are the locations where patients and the program will actually meet. The city has said it expects around 800 patients to qualify for medical marijuana in the first year of the program — advocates say it’s more — and allowing them to stay somewhat local is a good thing.

A six-person panel will judge each of the applications on a 250-point scale and submit them to affected ANCs in late January, after which residents will have 30 days to submit comments. The five licenses are scheduled to be handed at the end of March. With everything going to plan, medical marijuana should be available by May.

View Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in a larger map