The D.C. Council has approved a measure that would allow medical marijuana users from other jurisdictions to use their out-of-state registration cards to purchase cannabis in the District.

The bill, which received unanimous support from the council on its final vote Tuesday, aims to make it easier for patients visiting the District to get the medicine they need, medical marijuana advocates say.

“Non-residents are not permitted to purchase medical marijuana under current law. This results in a complete barrier to access for non-residents that doesn’t exist for other medication,” a September committee report on the bill states.

As of Oct. 1, the District has five dispensaries supplying pot products to the city’s 4,283 medical marijuana card holders — less than 1 percent of the city’s 670,000 residents.

In comparison, nearly 2 percent of California’s 39 million residents, 2 percent of Michigan’s 10 million residents and almost 4 percent of Maine’s 1.3 million residents carry medical marijuana cards. [Read more at Washington Times]