Marijuana retailer sends workers east to help speed production

When the fridge is empty, you can’t wait for the groceries to come to you.

Employees of the Beacon Hill-area retail marijuana shop Freedom Market took the store’s supply shortage into their own hands Thursday, getting dispatched to WOW Weed in Dallesport, Wash., to help trim and package the 4.5 pounds of pot they hope to be selling by Saturday afternoon.

“We’re just trying to speed up the process for them so we can get our product sooner. It’s a cooperative effort,” said Freedom Market owner Kathy Nelson, who sent five people to work at the grower/processor on her own dime. “It’s a hard day’s work to trim for hours and hours. It’s hard to find people to do that work on a regular basis.”

That isn’t the only reason for the absence of cannabis on shelves since the state’s first retail stores opened July 8. Most processors were licensed on the same timeline as retailers, and it takes quite a bit longer to grow than it does to sell and consume.

It takes 12 weeks to get from starter seed to mature sativa, and a state-mandated 3-day quarantine is followed by lab testing, a Cowlitz County grower said.

There are a handful of producers and processors in the county, most of them in the Tier 1 designation (a facility smaller than 1,400 square feet), but none have been around long enough to provide for the retail stores in the county.

The only other store in the county to be licensed by the state Liquor Control Board is Westside 420 Recreational at 4503 Ocean Beach Highway, and though owner Sally Sexton told the Seattle Times last week she hoped to open today, she would not return numerous messages on Thursday. No one was at the closed store Thursday and no signs were posted indicating an opening date.

No other store in the county that is able to get a license (based on the state’s lottery this spring) has received the state’s OK to open yet. Those are:

• Longview Freedom Market on 14th Avenue and Fir Street — Late July or August opening projected

• Localamster at 1006 California Way — August opening projected

• Willy’s Wonder at 2028 10th Ave. — No information available

• Angler’s Workshop at 1350 Atlantic Ave. in Woodland. A Woodland moratorium on pot sales and processing is in effect through November.

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Marijuana retailer sends workers east to help speed production