Staff Writer

Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn is out "to save lives," and he hopes to do so by selling marijuana.

But only to sick people.

Kahn, 58, has embarked on a quest to establish what would ostensibly become the first medical marijuana dispensary in the District's Takoma Park neighborhood for the chronically ill.

With D.C. recently passing a bill that allows for the creation of at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, Kahn has taken the initial steps to set up his own medicinal pot shop at 6925 4th St., N.W., not far from his home.

Assuming that the District's bureaucracy creeps along at a steady rate, come November, Kahn expects to be opening the doors to the Takoma Wellness Center.

The law permits city-sanctioned dealers to distribute up to two ounces of the controversial -- and in most states, highly illegal -- substance to individuals who suffer from a narrow set of major illnesses, including HIV, glaucoma, cancer or other "debilitating" and "chronic" conditions, according to the bill.

The Reform-ordained Kahn says that after working from the bima for about 26 years at various shuls, he and his wife, Stephanie, are entering the legal drug trade to help severely ill patients who have needlessly suffered for too long at the hands of what he calls a biased health system.

"There are sick people for whom this can really make a real difference," said Kahn, invoking Jewish healing principles, such as Leviticus' Parashat Kedoshim, or the Holiness Code, which reads in part: "You shall not stand by idly while your neighbor bleeds."

Cannabis -- as Kahn refers to it, claiming the word "marijuana" is a pejorative term that promotes negative stereotypes about the plant -- is a legitimate healing tool, he says.

"What do you do when something's against the law, but your doctor says it will provide you relief?" the District resident asked, soon admitting with a chuckle: "When I retired from my [last] congregation," Temple Har Shalom in Warren, N.J., "it was the furthest thing in my mind that I would end up in D.C. selling marijuana -- you just never know."

Helplessly witnessing the painful deaths of Stephanie Kahn's mother and father dramatically influenced the couple's thinking on the drug.

Her father, Jules Reifkind, who suffered for years from the degenerative nerve disorder multiple sclerosis, died first.

For years, the Kahns watched as he physically deteriorated, becoming completely bedridden, the couple recalled. Early on, however, a doctor hinted that marijuana could be the key to alleviating Reifkind's muscle spasms and recurring bouts of pain.

But in the 1970s, when the doctor first recommended the plant, Reifkind was dubious, Stephanie Kahn, 55, recalled.

"My father [was] a straight-laced businessman and was horrified" by the recommendation," she said.

Marijuana has long been the benchmark of lowbrow comedy and countless anti-drug campaigns, but the Kahns soon took note of its remedial qualities.

On the rare instances when Reifkind, who died in 2005, was able to obtain the drug illicitly, "it made such a difference, but it totally freaked him out, just the idea," Stephanie Kahn said.

Her mother, Libby, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in June 2009 and died two months later, likely would have benefited greatly from smoking marijuana, but she never was able to procure the substance, Kahn recalled.

"She was just wasting away" from numerous sessions of chemotherapy, which had completely destroyed her appetite, Kahn recalled. But the family "couldn't get [marijuana] for her, and she really wanted it. I felt bad." (Marijuana, as comedians often note, is known to increase one's appetite dramatically.)

So when the D.C. City Council took the first steps toward legalizing the substance for medical purposes, the Kahns held a family meeting.

"We sat down and said, 'This is something we can do and do well to really save lives and make a contribution,' " said Jeffrey Kahn, who, following a two-year stint in Israel, relocated to D.C. about a year ago to take a top post at the D.C.-based Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative, an advocacy group that campaigns for more "compassionate" drug laws.

The Kahns' son, James, a rabbi and senior Jewish educator at the University of Maryland Hillel, said he's not surprised by his parent's new enterprise.

"The hope of this dispensary is a hope born out of suffering, and the desire to help in any way possible," said the son via e-mail. "Their desire to open a medical marijuana dispensary in their neighborhood is just another example of" their urge to positively serve the community.

However, it's still unclear if D.C.'s medical marijuana law will remain on the books, as Congress has until the end of the month to veto the measure. And at least two House members are balking at the city's efforts, and one has threatened to pull D.C.'s federal funding if the law isn't altered.

In an interview Monday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said that while he sympathizes with the Kahns' urge to help the ill, he believes the D.C. legalization bill is fundamentally flawed.

"I saw the devastation of cancer [on his mother], but there were other ways to monitor her pain and what she was going through outside of smoking marijuana," Chaffetz said, explaining that THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the cannabis plant's primary psychoactive element, could be dispensed more safely in pill form.

If D.C. ignores his call, Chaffetz, the ranking member on a subcommittee responsible for awarding the city federal dollars, said he'd be open to "withholding funding," as it is a proven method to "get [the city's] attention."

The political fray aside, the Kahns say they're keeping their heads down, continuing to lay the groundwork necessary to finalize the Takoma Wellness Center, which would offer a range of diverse marijuana strains, as well as holistic services, such as aromatherapy and reflexology, according to the shop's website.

The center, says Jeffrey Kahn, will hardly resemble the Amsterdam-based head shops, which primarily exist to mainline marijuana into the community for recreational use. Rather, the Kahns' center will function as a full-service health clinic that works closely with patients to ail their prevailing symptoms.

The center already has the widespread backing of many community members -- a central requirement of the D.C. law, which says licenses only will be awarded to dispensaries that gain the support of their Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, or local political bodies set up consider a range of initiatives affecting city neighborhoods.

"I think [the Kahns] are sincere and my impression is that they're very well capable" of competently running a dispensary, said Faith Wheeler, vice chair of ANC4B, which oversees Takoma Park. "I think it would fit well" in the area.

It was the couple's detailed plans that wooed many residents, Wheeler said.

Stephanie Kahn is a nurse who's worked for nearly 25 years in the administrative side of hospitals. Her main role has been to ensure that her employer properly complies with a litany of regulations.

This know-how, she explained, will allow her to track every aspect of the dispensary -- including its cannabis supply and patient lists -- to ensure strict compliance with the law.

Security also will be a prime issue.

Jeffrey Kahn says he's crafted a plan to have an off-duty police officer on the premises at all times, and will install multiple cameras to patrol the area. These efforts, he said, will boost the neighborhood's overall safety.

The potential dealers seem optimistic about their admittedly strange venture.

"It just feels like we're here at the right time," said Stephanie Kahn. "This is something I can do in [her parents'] memory, and they would love it. I know it."