Marijuana Industry in Washington

Marijuana Industry in Washington

In early July, Washington retail stores opened for the sale of recreational marijuana. There are approximately 60 processors and about 20 retailers licensed to sell the product.
I spoke to one of the state’s larger producer-processor, Farmer J about the state’s newest industry after touring his facility. He shared that he had been selling medical marijuana prior to beginning his processing company and spent the time study the new laws surrounding the industry
Farmer J: “I read the law. Then I read it again. Then I read it again. And that is really the key to success. People call this the Wild West — it is not the Wild West. It has a set of regulations. We are following those regulations and have to do so to succeed. And in many cases, we are exceeding those requirements that the state has set forth, just to make sure we are in complete compliance. But beyond that we are really free to run our business the way we see fit and to take it in the direction we want to take it in.”
He says that beginning in a new industry is exciting and although what the future holds for the industry is unknown, he says
Farmer J: “We have to flexible because we don’t know. All we can do is start with the flowers and expand to other sources — oils, edibles things like that. And then I think the future will bring something we haven’t even thought of yet. Who knows? But that is just change — I think that happens in any business. If we’re not flexible to it, we’ll just get run over. And because we are at the forefront, we have the ability to maybe direct where this industry goes in the state of Washington for the short term, anyway.”

 

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