From Swamp to Skunk

We’re back with High History, a baked look into D.C.’s stanky past. Everyone “knows” D.C. was built on a swamp. But do they know that actually… it wasn’t? Great slogan, very little reality.

All those images we conjure up when thinking of a swamp though: humidity, stench, mosquitos… Well, those are pretty accurate to the facts. Presidents battling malaria? Check. Open sewage perfuming the city? Also, check.

The whole swamp thing is somewhat of a nice coverup when you look at the reality of the situation: an epic canal was unveiled; it very quickly became a stagnant, open sewer with waste water collecting in the low-lying ground near today’s Ellipse. It was impassable at low tide, unusable for transportation and ultimately considered “a threat to public health.”

Think diseases abound, mosquito-infested, yellow fever and malaria thriving. In essence, the area became a foul-smelling swamp, certainly deserving of the old “drain the swamp” refrain. Quite the ambience for a leisurely stroll through downtown.

That was two centuries ago and D.C.’s signature aroma of sun-baked sewage has, thankfully, evolved.

The Stank of Dank

Thanks to Initiative 71, 2015 marked the beginning of a new smell-era for D.C. Feet from what would have been the stench epicenter in the 1860s is now one of the city’s renowned stank epicenters; yes, the same grounds that housed the infamous “pestiferous ditch” have undergone a miraculous transformation into a dispensary. If that’s not a Cinderella story, we don’t know what is.

And like all true miracles, this is one that has been fruitful and multiplied. Filling the air with 2026’s signature dank scent, D.C. is currently home to almost seventy licensed dispensaries. The city’s residents of the 1800s probably weren’t envisioning a walk down Pennsylvania Ave perfumed by occasional whiffs of citrus, berry, mint, tart cherry, candy, and spice.

Now just imagine if every D.C. resident over 21 exercised their full Initiative 71 rights… six cannabis plants a head… We can smell it now: a cloud over the city that residents could be truly proud of.

From Foul to Floral

While cannabis certainly is the people’s flower, age restrictions do, in fact, apply. So while the government gave Initiative 71 to the 21+ crowd, they also hooked everyone else up with a multitude of sensory dankness throughout the city: flowering gardens.

So yes, while we’d like to go on about how cannabis is the reigning scent of D.C., we’d be lying if we didn’t include the rest of the city’s floral palate.

From the swampy terrain that collected fecal matter now grows the Rose Garden. Talk about a coverup (and we know D.C. loves a good one!). This would have been the perfect scent-mask back in the open sewage days. Book free tickets in advance to catch the seasonal blooms and take deep inhales with full confidence that it’s not giardia particles you’re huffing.

Now it’s hard to imagine that having a biohazardous canal running through the center of the city was exactly eco-friendly. Few bees and butterflies would choose wastewater sediment over a blooming flower. D.C. has since righted its wrongs; smell what’s all the buzz down at the Smithsonian Pollinators Garden.

And for those who prefer an herbaceous palate; Pavé fans, we’re talking to you. Perhaps you’ve never even heard of the National Herb Society of America? Well, they’ve got your back. Head straight to the National Herb Garden. Good scents abound, just short of a full herbal catalog with the missing addition of cannabis.

If you are in fact 21+, come take a whiff of the city’s most potent flower down at District Cannabis’ Union Market store. Pay tribute to the city’s swampy lore with something seriously stanky. Continue the scent mission with your own act of “pollination” following your nose through the aromatic food offerings all around… Catania, anyone?

The Swamp’s Been Drained, Now What?

OK, well technically it was a canal that did in fact get drained, and then filled in, and then filled up with a whole lot of politicking. Which has in turn brought on a revival of the whole ‘drain the swamp’ thing.

At District Cannabis, we’ve accepted that, alas, the swamp can never be truly drained. So why not opt to fill it up with something better? Those Swamp Boy Seeds we mentioned earlier? How about a whole D.C. in Swamp-tastic bloom? Smells great, feels even better. Who’s with us in a collective effort to smoke out the swamp?

WEED THE PEOPLE