Pubdate: Wed, 09 Jul 2014
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2014 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Gene Johnson, Associated Press

WASH. MARIJUANA USERS CHEER 1ST DAY OF SALES

State Is 2d in US to Legalize Use for Recreation

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) - Cale Holdsworth strode to the counter at Top
Shelf Cannabis, inspected and sniffed a glass jar filled with
marijuana, and said: "I'll take two grams."

Holdsworth paid $26.50 and held up the brown bag containing his
marijuana as people applauded the store's first transaction as
Washington on Tuesday became the second state to allow people to buy
marijuana legally in the US without a doctor's note.

"This is a great moment," the 29-year-old from Abilene, Kan., said as
a swarm of reporters and television cameras recorded the moment.

People began buying marijuana at 8 a.m. at Top Shelf Cannabis, which
started selling the drug as soon as it was allowed under state
regulations. Before it opened, several dozen people lined up outside
the shop in this liberal college town of about 80,000.

Holdsworth was first in line, along with his girlfriend, Sarah Gorton,
and her younger brother. They showed up at 4 a.m.

Gorton said the trio was in Bellingham for her grandfather's 84th
birthday. State law allows both Washington residents and people from
out of state to purchase a limited amount of marijuana.

"It's just a happy coincidence and an opportunity we're not going to
have for a long time," said Gorton, 24. "I'm really thrilled to be a
part of something that I never thought would happen."

In Seattle, hundreds of people waited in the warm sunshine outside the
city's first marijuana shop, Cannabis City, which opened at noon.

Store owner James Lathrop, holding large scissors to cut the ribbon
for the official opening, said it was time to "free the weed."

The first customer, 65-year-old retiree Deb Greene, hugged and thanked
Alison Holcomb, the author of Washington's marijuana law, before she
placed her order for 8 grams, total $160.01 with tax.

"It's so remarkable," Greene said. "We're showing the
way."

The start of legal marijuana sales in Washington marks a major step
that's been 20 months in the making.

Washington and Colorado stunned much of the world by voting in
November 2012 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21 and to create
state-licensed systems for growing, selling, and taxing marijuana.
Sales began in Colorado on Jan. 1.

Washington issued its first 24 retail licenses Monday. An Associated
Press survey of the licensees showed only about six planned to open
Tuesday: two 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.

It's been a bumpy ride in Washington, with product shortages expected
as growers and sellers scrambled to prepare. Prices were expected to
be higher than what people pay at the state's unregulated medical
marijuana dispensaries.

That was largely because of the short supply of legally produced
marijuana 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.

Colorado already had a regulated medical marijuana system, making for
a smoother transition when it allowed those dispensaries to start
selling to recreational shops Jan. 1.

Washington's medical marijuana system is unregulated, so officials
here were starting from scratch as they immersed themselves in the
marijuana world and tried to come up with regulations that made sense
for the industry and the public.

The rules include protocols for testing marijuana and requirements for
child-resistant packaging. Officials also had to determine things such
as how much criminal history was too much to get a license and what
types of security systems shops and growers should have.

Washington law allows the sale of up to an ounce of dried marijuana,
16 ounces of marijuana-infused solids, 72 ounces of marijuana-infused
liquids, or 7 grams of concentrated marijuana, such as hashish, to
adults over 21.

Brian Kost, a 45-year-old Bellingham man, was among the first in line
at Top Shelf Cannabis. He said he hadn't smoked marijuana in 17 years
because he didn't like the hassle of trying to find it on the illegal
market.

"With the chance to buy it legally, I just couldn't pass it up," Kost
said. "I never thought I'd see the day."

Gorton said she, her brother, and her boyfriend planned to head back
to their relatives' house and sample their purchase.

"We're probably going to break open a bottle of wine, sit on the
porch, and enjoy this," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt