Want to open a recreational marijuana business in Washington state? Get in line.
In the first six hours the new Department of Revenue site was open yesterday, 299 applications were filed, with 16 people filing for both growing and processing cannabis and 70 retail applications.
According to the Spokesman-Review, there wee also 62 people applying to be processors (think hash and edibles) and 151 people who signed up to be both growers and processors.
Another half-dozen or so people also dropped their applications off in person. Some were bragging about it to news reporters on hand.
“We’re going to grow the finest marijuana in Washington state as I’ve always done,” Jeff Gilmore, who could be one of the first legal recreational marijuana growers in the state if his application passes, told KING5 in Seattle. “This is absolutely amazing.”
Each application submitted required a non-refundable $250 fee along with it to help cover the cost of the extensive background check and processing. All applicants have to be residents of Washington state.
Applications started yesterday at 8 a.m. and will run for 30 days. All applications head over to the state Liquor Control Board for processing. Licenses should start being issued early in 2014, with the first recreational marijuana shops opening to the public sometime in June of next year.
While some are excited about the new recreational program coming online, many medical marijuana patients and dispensaries say the new laws are unfairly being thrust upon them. It’s a system that doesn’t meet their needs, many argue.
As Toke contributor Jack Daniel reported, a proposal to ban all home medical marijuana cultivation and drop the limit on the amount of cannabis a medical marijuana patient can have in their possession from 24 ounces to three ounces, among other things.
