Since last month, Washingtonians can legally grow or consume their own marijuana. Actually getting the seeds to grow it has been much trickier, though, thanks to a Congressional block on legalizing sales of the drug. Aiming to get avoid the prohibition, marijuana activists in the the D.C. Cannabis Campaign have announced two legal “seed shares” later this month.

Would-be farmers can attend either of the seed shares, set for March 26 and 28, as long as they bring a government ID, are over 21, and follow the rules.

And what a lot of rules there are. Would-be seed swappers can go through nearly 1,000 words of rules and recommendations, created in an attempt to respect the District’s elaborate legalization regime. For example, purchasing marijuana or seeds is still illegal, but so is buying someone a beer at the bar in exchange for pot. Urban farmers can exchange seeds, but they can’t trade live, “cloned” plants. Anyone breaking the rules will get booted from the event.

“There probably is something we didn’t think of,” says D.C. Cannabis Campaign chairman Adam Eidinger. “We’re trying to prevent any running afoul of the law.”

Within in an hour of the seed share announcement, Eidinger says 60 people had already signed up. Eidinger expects that people looking for seeds will outnumber attendees who actually have seeds to share by 10-1.

In preparation for a rush on seeds, Eidinger says he’s making sure each event will have a few “ringers” with seeds to share.

“Considering that one person could show up with 1,000 seeds, I think we’re going to be fine,” Eidinger says.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery