Pot shops attract customers as marijuana lags behind

Published 1:01 pm Tuesday, July 8, 2014

CAMANO ISLAND — A steady stream of customers drove into the parking lot of the Bud Hut on Tuesday.

It wasn’t worth the trip.

The shop is one of three local businesses to receive a license to sell recreational marijuana. And like many others around the state, the Bud Hut isn’t opening today.

The shop at 1123 E. Highway 532 has a sign on the door that says they’re hoping to open on July 21.

Inside, display cases with touch-screen pads show marijuana that will eventually be sold. And a wall of bongs and other glassware are already out.

A representative for the owner said that they’re still waiting for a supply of marijuana.

Snohomish County’s only marijuana retailer, Cascade Kropz at 19129 Smokey Point Blvd. in Arlington, plans to open at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

In all, 25 stores around the state received licenses this week. The state expects to issue as many as 300.

But few expected to open today. A survey by The Associated Press found only about five planned to open on the first day, including one store in Bellingham, one in Seattle, one in Spokane, one in Prosser and one in Kelso. Some were set to open later this week or next, while others said it could be a month or more before they could acquire marijuana to sell.

In Seattle and Bellingham, there was a celebration as Washington becomes only the second state to allow people to buy marijuana legally without a doctor’s note.

At Cannabis City in Seattle, a 65-year-old retiree named Deb Greene, showed up just before 3 p.m. Monday. She had a chair, sleeping bag, food, water and a 930-page book.

“I voted for it, and I’m just so excited to see it come to be in my lifetime,” she said. “I’m not a heavy user, I’m just proud of our state for giving this a try.”

The store opened at noon today.

Cannabis City owner James Lathrop had already worked into the night Sunday placing no-parking signs in front of his building, hoisting a grand-opening banner and hanging artwork.

“I’ve had a long day. It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said.

The final days before sales have been frenetic for growers and retailers alike. Lathrop and his team hired an events company to provide crowd control, arranged for a food truck and free water for those who might spend hours waiting outside, and rented portable toilets to keep his customers from burdening nearby businesses with requests to use the restrooms.

At Nine Point Growth Industries, a marijuana grower in Bremerton, owner Gregory Stewart said he and his director celebrated after they worked through some glitches in the pot-tracking software early Monday and officially learned they’d be able to transport their weed 24 hours later, at 2:22 a.m. Tuesday.

“It’s the middle of the night and we’re standing here doing high-fives and our version of a happy dance,” he said. “It’s huge for us.”

Pot prices were expected to reach $25 a gram or higher on the first day of sales — twice what people pay in the state’s unregulated medical marijuana dispensaries. That was largely due to the short supply of legally produced pot in the state. Although more than 2,600 people applied to become licensed growers, fewer than 100 have been approved — and only about a dozen were ready to harvest by early this month.

In Bellingham, John Evich, an investor for Top Shelf Cannabis, said his shop wanted to thank the state’s residents for voting for the law by offering $10 grams of one cannabis strain to the first 50 or 100 customers. The other strains would be priced between $12 and $25, he said.

The store opened at 8 a.m., but work remained: trimming the bathroom door, cleaning the floors, wiping dust off the walls and, of course, stocking the shelves.

At Cannabis City, Lathrop said they waited until noon for a reason.

“Know your audience: We’re talking stoners here,” he said. “I’d be mean to say they need to get up at 5 a.m. to get in line.”