Legal marijuana sales started in Washington on July 7th. Supply shortages resulted in high prices and long lines. A marijuana store in Vancouver, Main Street Marijuana, closed temporarily this week. The closure is not due to supply shortages, which has temporarily closed at least one other marijuana store in Washington. Main Street Marijuana temporarily closed it’s doors due to poor product quality and price gouging by licensed marijuana growers in Washington. Per The Columbian:
When the Main Street Marijuana manager saw what came in a shipment of material from a new grower this week, he decided to close until he can secure more variety, lower prices and better quality stock, he said.
“I’m not going to let these guys hold us hostage anymore,” Hamide said of a handful of growers that he says have been selling bad product for high prices. “It’s hurting the entire system, and it needs to stop. By continuing to play ball with these guys, it’s just making things worse.”
The store will likely remain closed through the weekend and could stay that way well into next week, Hamide said.
This scenario highlights a problem with the marijuana industry that I have been pointing out for months now. Just because someone is qualified to get a marijuana growers license does not mean that they are a capable marijuana grower. In states that require huge sums of money to obtain, or even apply for, a marijuana growers license I’d imagine this problem will come up again. Application processes need to do a better job of selecting someone who is good at what they do, not just someone that is rich enough to afford the process, or lucky enough to win a lottery.
