Pubdate: Tue, 19 Aug 2014
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2014 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Evan Bush
Page: B4

DOZENS WAIT IN LINE AT BOTHELL POT SHOP

Second Store in Seattle Area

With Enough Supplies to Keep Doors Open

They came from New Zealand, from Austin, Texas, and from right around 
the corner in Lynnwood.

By the time Herbal Nation opened at noon Monday, about 65 people were 
in a line that snaked out into the parking lot, waiting to buy legal 
pot. The Bothell store, on Highway 527 between 192nd and 194th 
streets, became the second marijuana shop in the Seattle area to open 
its doors. Prices ranged from about $17 to $25 per gram of marijuana 
before sales tax.

Although the opening lacked some of the pageantry of July 8, the 
first day recreational-pot stores opened in Washington, the 
atmosphere was festive. Green advertising inflatables danced at the 
store's entrance. A deejay spun classic rock and reggae beats with 
marijuana themes. Employees whisked water bottles out to customers 
waiting on the hot asphalt outside. Although the store did a brisk 
business, the line looked no shorter 45 minutes past the hour.

Lauren Downes, Herbal Nation's spokeswoman, said she expected to sell 
to more than 1,000 customers its first day of business. Licensed by 
the state Liquor Control Board on July 18, Herbal Nation held off on 
opening its doors until it felt confident it could keep them open, 
Downes said. She declined to say how much supply the business had.

"We waited to open for a month so we could establish relationships 
with producers," she said. With supply low across the state, Downes 
said, it was a struggle to find producers who were charging the 
prices Herbal Nation sought. "If you're paying exorbitant amounts, 
how do you not pass that on to consumers?" Downes asked.

Will Herbal Nation be able to keep up with demand? Downes said the 
company did not "foresee having to limit" the amount customers could 
buy beyond the state's 1-ounce limit and did not expect supply 
shortages down the road. She expected to have edibles from Seattle's 
DB3 in stock next week.

With three counters of bongs, glass pipes and even 24K gold rolling 
papers, Herbal Nation attracted a mix of locals and pot tourists 
buying legal weed for the first time.

Keiko Gorum, a tourist visiting Seattle from Austin, said she hadn't 
used marijuana in about 40 years but heard that Herbal Nation was 
opening and decided to check it out. "This is all new to me," Gorum 
said. "I don't know what I'm doing."

With the direction of a store employee, she bought a single 
pre-rolled joint low in THC and said she'd use it back at her hotel room.

Herman Hill, meanwhile, who lives in Lynnwood, bought an eighth of an 
ounce (about 3.5 grams) of a highTHC indica strain for $80 before sales tax.

Hill said he occasionally used pot but had never bought it before, 
legally or illegally. "I was always given some," he said. Hill said 
he was impressed with the store's strict ID check and low-stress 
atmosphere. "I'll be back," he said.

He did have one concern, though.

"My wife doesn't know I'm doing this. I've already been on the news 
though," Hill said. "She'll find out one way or another."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom