420 Girl - Hollie Hillman

[420RedHead]

Hollie Hillman, 30, of Longview, Washington, weighs out a gram of marijuana bud at the shop she co owns, Tuesday at Maranda's. Inside are the fruits of a burgeoning legal marijuana industry. Although recreational marijuana stores are expected to open next year in Washington, Maranda's serves only medical patients. Still, the place is a veritable pot emporium. A hint of what recreational marijuana stores may look like when they open in the spring.

 

[420RedHead]

The prohibition against selling pot on the retail market is over in Washington State. Early this Monday morning the state issued 24 retail licenses for commercial marijuana stores around the state. Eventually, Washington will have 336 pot retail stores. One of the first to open will be The Freedom Market just north of Kelso. Monday the phone rang off the hook. Hollie Hillman pictured. - KGW News

 

[420RedHead]

Kathy Nelson and Hollie Hillman, owners of Freedom Market, also run Maranda's Alternative Meds, two local medical marijuana dispensaries that operate separately from the recreational market. There, cannabis goes for about $10 a gram and is displayed in jars and weighed out on scales. All marijuana sold at recreational retail outlets will be pre-packaged, air-tight and child-proof, so the scales and the scents will be gone from the equation. "We want (customers) to know it's retail, it's like walking into a candle shop. It's nothing to be afraid of, it's perfectly safe, legal, and we're being responsible and following all the rules." Those rules include no advertisements aside from a single 1,600-square-inch sign that can't include any reference to pot or cannabis symbols. Nelson said they're playing it safe by not even putting up a website or Facebook account. - The Daily News