Washington, like Colorado, legalized marijuana through a voter initiative in 2012. Starting this year, the Liquor Control Board of Washington will begin licensing marijuana stores, growers, and processors to provide legal weed to the general public.
While the application process for those applying to become "licensed" under Initiative 502 is still underway, medical marijuana business owners and marijuana entrepreneurs have begun the process of setting up their businesses for what many hope to be a lucrative business.
We visited with Jason Gardiner, one of the owners of a Renton, Wash.-based medical marijuana store (and I-502 hopeful licensee), and Dante Jones, one of the business partners in charge of Grow Ambrosia (hoping to get a marijuana producer and processor license), to see their operations.
Stores may not officially open until the spring, when the application process will finish, but we got a look at what the weed industry will look like in Washington.
Life's RX is a medical marijuana dispensary in Renton, Wash., a Seattle suburb where there are 6 other dispensaries like it. The store is applying to become a licensed recreational marijuana store under Seattle's I-502 law.
The store is located in a shopping mall with other suburban staples like dry cleaners, hair salons, and H&R Block.
The store is marked by a small sign and a discreet door. State officials are finicky about how large store signs are allowed to be.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider