The General
New Member
A little more than two months after Washington launched recreational marijuana sales, you'd be hard pressed to stumble upon any pot shops in the state's biggest city: Until this weekend, only one marijuana store was open in Seattle, and getting there required a trek through industrial developments far from downtown. And when you reach the store, you might not find any pot on the shelves. "We're not doing well because we don't have anything to sell," said James Lathrop, owner of Cannabis City in Seattle. "It's really an insane business."
Washington's tough approach to regulating marijuana growers and retailers means only 60 marijuana-store licenses have been granted, and it's unclear exactly how many of them have actually opened for business. Some marijuana store owners say the regulations and scarce supply of legal weed are making it hard to shepherd the industry away from the black market and toward paying taxes.
Lathrop flies a flag outside his store to signal whether he has any of the coveted "bud" or marijuana flowers for sale. Last week, he was selling only pre-rolled joints and packages of "shake," which generally contains less of the intoxicating THC than the flowers. For sophisticated consumers, neither is an attractive option, especially at $45 for a 2-gram joint. In comparison, Colorado retail stores are selling high-quality marijuana flowers for as little as $10 a gram.
He also has no pot-infused foods, known as edibles, available. Edibles are popular with novice users and tourists staying in smoking-free hotel rooms. In Colorado, some stores report that 40% of their sales are coming in the form of pot-infused cookies, chocolates and sodas. Like Colorado, Washington this year began allowing consumers to legally buy marijuana for fun. But the struggles in keeping shelves stocked highlight significant differences between the two states' approaches. Inside Cannabis City, Denver resident Kyle Johnson said this week he was surprised to see how little supply was available at the city's only store. "I think Denver is a couple years ahead on the scene," he said. "You come in and they only have the one type. And the prices ... the price is a huge thing."
A second store in Seattle was set to open this weekend, and Lathrop said he's not worried about it poaching customers: "We're competing on getting the product in the first place." Ninety miles to the north at Bellingham's Top Shelf Cannabis, store investor John Evich has plenty of product on his shelves. "We're learning as we go," he said. "I've seen nothing but smiles."
He attributes his solid supplies to close connections with the growing community, connections he carefully nurtured for months before the store opened July 8. The store about 50 miles south of Vancouver now offers about 30 strains, although supplies of edibles remain scarce. The short supplies, along with the dearth of stores, highlight significant differences between the recreational marijuana systems in Colorado and Washington. More than two dozen marijuana stores serve downtown Denver, and Colorado has licensed more than 230 retail stores.
In Washington, recreational marijuana must be grown by a licensed farmer, processed by a licensed processor and then transferred to a separate retailer. Retailers can't grow the marijuana they sell, and aren't allowed to open the packages its pot comes in. They also cannot have any connection with the state's far-less regulated medical marijuana industry. In Colorado, most retail pot shops also contain growing and processing operations, and many serve both recreational and medical customers. Another key difference: While Washington state required strength and contamination testing from the first day of sales (which caused a delay in sales), Colorado allowed sales to begin first, with testing requirements only now being fully implemented.
During the previous weekend's Seattle Seahawks-Denver Broncos football game, Lathrop said he had enough marijuana to serve 1,500 customers. But they stripped his shelves bare, and two days later he's not sure when his next delivery will arrive. "So now we have customers who are going to find some on the illegal market," Lathrop said. "There's a very robust black market." Proponents of legalized marijuana largely base their argument on an undeniable fact: Pot has been for decades one of the most widely used substances even though the federal government classifies it at the same level as heroin and LSD, and more strictly over cocaine and OxyContin.
Legalizing marijuana, proponent argue, simply recognizes the reality that your friends, family and neighbors have been consuming it responsibly, albeit illegally, for years. Taxing and regulating it, they argue, brings the industry out of the shadows, allowing regulators and law enforcement to spend their time dealing with truly dangerous drugs. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, who helped lead the legalization fight, said Washington deliberately took a different tack than Colorado when it came to testing, growing and tracking. Holmes admits Washington's shortage of legal recreational marijuana and stores means buyers are still finding it elsewhere, particularly pot that's been diverted from the state's largely unregulated medical marijuana system.
But he said Washington is poised to tighten that system, which will ultimately push people into buying taxed-and-regulated recreational pot. In Colorado, the medical system is more closely regulated but still set up so that state residents can easily get a "red card" recommendation from their doctor and buy high-quality marijuana that's taxed at far lower levels. A Colorado-commissioned study indicated that large amounts of medical marijuana are being diverted by buyers who acquire it cheaply using their red card, and then re-sell it on the black market, or just grow it themselves for illegal resale. Holmes said it's unclear Colorado will even be able to close that "gaping loophole."
"I had a store owner in Colorado tell me that only chumps and tourists go to the recreational side," Holmes said. "That's completely upsetting the Colorado market. I hope that Washington avoids all that. We have a better opportunity for a tighter system that meets the federal guidelines." Back in Bellingham, Evich said he's not surprised Washington's marijuana industry has growing pains. Like Lathrop, he said he expects supply problems to ease by next year, especially as the first outdoor crops reach the market. He said state regulators have been tough but fair, and seem more interested in helping the new businesses comply with the regulations than in hitting them with fines. He said the industry, for its part, has taken great care to follow the new rules. "The public image is changing, and fast," he said. "We're not trying to get rich on dollars. We're trying to get rich on clientele and trust."
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Usatoday.com
Author: Trevor Hughes
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Marijuana legal but often scarce in Washington state
Washington's tough approach to regulating marijuana growers and retailers means only 60 marijuana-store licenses have been granted, and it's unclear exactly how many of them have actually opened for business. Some marijuana store owners say the regulations and scarce supply of legal weed are making it hard to shepherd the industry away from the black market and toward paying taxes.
Lathrop flies a flag outside his store to signal whether he has any of the coveted "bud" or marijuana flowers for sale. Last week, he was selling only pre-rolled joints and packages of "shake," which generally contains less of the intoxicating THC than the flowers. For sophisticated consumers, neither is an attractive option, especially at $45 for a 2-gram joint. In comparison, Colorado retail stores are selling high-quality marijuana flowers for as little as $10 a gram.
He also has no pot-infused foods, known as edibles, available. Edibles are popular with novice users and tourists staying in smoking-free hotel rooms. In Colorado, some stores report that 40% of their sales are coming in the form of pot-infused cookies, chocolates and sodas. Like Colorado, Washington this year began allowing consumers to legally buy marijuana for fun. But the struggles in keeping shelves stocked highlight significant differences between the two states' approaches. Inside Cannabis City, Denver resident Kyle Johnson said this week he was surprised to see how little supply was available at the city's only store. "I think Denver is a couple years ahead on the scene," he said. "You come in and they only have the one type. And the prices ... the price is a huge thing."
A second store in Seattle was set to open this weekend, and Lathrop said he's not worried about it poaching customers: "We're competing on getting the product in the first place." Ninety miles to the north at Bellingham's Top Shelf Cannabis, store investor John Evich has plenty of product on his shelves. "We're learning as we go," he said. "I've seen nothing but smiles."
He attributes his solid supplies to close connections with the growing community, connections he carefully nurtured for months before the store opened July 8. The store about 50 miles south of Vancouver now offers about 30 strains, although supplies of edibles remain scarce. The short supplies, along with the dearth of stores, highlight significant differences between the recreational marijuana systems in Colorado and Washington. More than two dozen marijuana stores serve downtown Denver, and Colorado has licensed more than 230 retail stores.
In Washington, recreational marijuana must be grown by a licensed farmer, processed by a licensed processor and then transferred to a separate retailer. Retailers can't grow the marijuana they sell, and aren't allowed to open the packages its pot comes in. They also cannot have any connection with the state's far-less regulated medical marijuana industry. In Colorado, most retail pot shops also contain growing and processing operations, and many serve both recreational and medical customers. Another key difference: While Washington state required strength and contamination testing from the first day of sales (which caused a delay in sales), Colorado allowed sales to begin first, with testing requirements only now being fully implemented.
During the previous weekend's Seattle Seahawks-Denver Broncos football game, Lathrop said he had enough marijuana to serve 1,500 customers. But they stripped his shelves bare, and two days later he's not sure when his next delivery will arrive. "So now we have customers who are going to find some on the illegal market," Lathrop said. "There's a very robust black market." Proponents of legalized marijuana largely base their argument on an undeniable fact: Pot has been for decades one of the most widely used substances even though the federal government classifies it at the same level as heroin and LSD, and more strictly over cocaine and OxyContin.
Legalizing marijuana, proponent argue, simply recognizes the reality that your friends, family and neighbors have been consuming it responsibly, albeit illegally, for years. Taxing and regulating it, they argue, brings the industry out of the shadows, allowing regulators and law enforcement to spend their time dealing with truly dangerous drugs. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes, who helped lead the legalization fight, said Washington deliberately took a different tack than Colorado when it came to testing, growing and tracking. Holmes admits Washington's shortage of legal recreational marijuana and stores means buyers are still finding it elsewhere, particularly pot that's been diverted from the state's largely unregulated medical marijuana system.
But he said Washington is poised to tighten that system, which will ultimately push people into buying taxed-and-regulated recreational pot. In Colorado, the medical system is more closely regulated but still set up so that state residents can easily get a "red card" recommendation from their doctor and buy high-quality marijuana that's taxed at far lower levels. A Colorado-commissioned study indicated that large amounts of medical marijuana are being diverted by buyers who acquire it cheaply using their red card, and then re-sell it on the black market, or just grow it themselves for illegal resale. Holmes said it's unclear Colorado will even be able to close that "gaping loophole."
"I had a store owner in Colorado tell me that only chumps and tourists go to the recreational side," Holmes said. "That's completely upsetting the Colorado market. I hope that Washington avoids all that. We have a better opportunity for a tighter system that meets the federal guidelines." Back in Bellingham, Evich said he's not surprised Washington's marijuana industry has growing pains. Like Lathrop, he said he expects supply problems to ease by next year, especially as the first outdoor crops reach the market. He said state regulators have been tough but fair, and seem more interested in helping the new businesses comply with the regulations than in hitting them with fines. He said the industry, for its part, has taken great care to follow the new rules. "The public image is changing, and fast," he said. "We're not trying to get rich on dollars. We're trying to get rich on clientele and trust."
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Usatoday.com
Author: Trevor Hughes
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Marijuana legal but often scarce in Washington state
