Capitol Hemp may have to close its two stores in August, but it certainly isn’t going quietly—and it’s not giving up altogether.
Store co-owner Adam Eidinger announced today that until it closes, the store will sell hemp t-shirts and pins with the slogan “Capitol Hemp: Banned in D.C.” and an image of the U.S. Capitol being struck by lightning. Anyone who has been here long enough or is a fan of local music will recognize the reference—in 2003, Bad Brains released “Banned in D.C.,” a 22-song compilation of its music, featuring the same image of the Capitol. (See below.)
And though the stores are closing, Eidinger tells the Huffington Post that the business may well remain:
They’ll also be available online, past the retail stores’ closing. Eidinger says that his agreement with the police only mandates closing down Capitol Hemp’s physical locations, not the business in total. Capitol Hemp, Eidinger says, will live on as an online hemp clothing retailer, an internet “superstore for hemp clothing” that will “serve the whole country.”
“We have orders for Christmas already in,” Eidinger says. “Might as well put them online and sell them.”
Eidinger says the possibility also exists that Capitol Hemp will hold onto its Adams Morgan location, perhaps turning it into a Cold War themed-nightclub, selling drinks in glowing radioactive glassware. In a nod to recent events, he is considering naming the place “Fallout Shelter.”
Those cheeky bastards.

Martin Austermuhle