Cannabis City Suggests Potential Fixes for Proposed Marijuana Clubs

May 15, 2015 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

On Monday, we posted an article with a hint of urgency in our plea, to implement marijuana clubs and change the retail tax structure which has handcuffed pot shops across the state.

It was made known later in the day, that we were not the only ones sharing our views and concerns. Cannabis City posted a great article on their site about the need to address marijuana clubs and even offered some great potential fixes.

One concern we have about the cannabis clubs suggested by city attorney Pete Holmes, is that you would only be allowed to vaporize or eat weed-infused edibles. It would be a shame to not include a wider range of products given that places like weed-crew.net strive to provide users with a wide range of ways to use cannabis. While we salute Pete Holmes for addressing the issue of needing a place for the public and tourists to consume cannabis, we feel this is a half-hearted idea. I know a lot of people don’t like walking past someone smoking cannabis and get a rush of the smell in your face, but there is a solution to this. There are lots of methods in which people can consume cannabis, such as CBD oils, brownies and much more, which are used for a range of conditions like medical conditions also. So it’s not just for people to get a high, but if this is the case then opting for cannabis brownies is a less potent way of consuming cannabis and is therefore less likely to upset and disrupt others. These products can all be found at Yours Nutrition.

Just allow marijuana consumption in these clubs. 1) marijuana smoke is not tobacco smoke and 2) if someone doesn’t want to be in a place where there is smoke from a joint, then don’t go to a marijuana club. Same thing with a Hookah bar. If you don’t like Hookah smoke, then don’t go. Some people just don’t get this concept, though.

For decades, Amsterdam has allowed smoking marijuana in coffeeshops with really no problems. In fact, we have been to a countless number of coffeeshops in the Dutch city and not once did we hear of anyone complaining. We imagined if they didn’t like cannabis smoke, they just didn’t go to a coffeeshop, or they just tolerated it. Their choice.

Also, did you know that Amsterdam has a clean air act or sorts and doesn’t allow tobacco smoke in bars, but they will tolerate marijuana smoke in coffeeshops? Hey, it’s possible!

Cannabis City provides a suggestion regarding smoking cannabis indoors. They also have a follow up suggestion – just in case:

Cannabis clubs could offer public spaces for vaporized cannabis and edible cannabis with an outdoor area for smoking. Coffee, food, and water should be available options.
If there are concerns of the fragrance of the outdoor spaces, then provide for “hot box rooms” — rooms set up with charcoal ventilation systems for indoor smoking which are closed off from staff working areas and other public areas of the space. Hot box rooms could be rented privately.

We want anyone to be able to open a marijuana club, just like pretty much anyone can open a bar. But, Cannabis City does bring up some concerns that really need to be looked at:

Cannabis clubs should be owned and operated, at least initially, by cannabis retailers — increasing the opportunity that most of the products consumed at a club are coming from a legal and regulated source. Cannabis clubs owned by non-cannabis retailers could easily become a hot spot of illicit activity — sort of like having a bar or dance club where you “bring your own alcohol” and you cannot buy it on site. A ridiculous model. The retail licensing could be expanded to provide for purchase and consumption of products right at the club itself by creating a separate marijuana club (retail) licence; or in conjunction with existing retail licenses. The easy solution: Allow all legal retailers to offer onsite consumption of products to their customers immediately and perhaps expand into separate club licensing in the future.

The marijuana club proposal by Pete Holmes suggests a place where the public brings their own cannabis. This might seem fine at first, but there are so many things wrong with this idea. For example, Cannabis City mentions that ‘Cannabis clubs owned by non-cannabis retailers could easily become a hot spot of illicit activity.’

Either ‘Cannabis clubs should be owned and operated, at least initially, by cannabis retailers’ as suggested by Cannabis City; or, we suggest, why not only allow consumption of marijuana purchased at the club – allowing the retail stores to sponsor the clubs – and provide their product? Or, why not just allow Washington State producers to supply the clubs just like a retail outlet from the get-go.

Read Cannabis City’s article in its’ entirety and the potential fixes they offer.

What are your thoughts about these issues? What suggestions do you have?

Marijuana Bars and Reconstructed Retail Taxes ASAP

May 12, 2015 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

We’ve come a long way…

Not so much.

December 9, 2013. I-502 anniversary celebration under the Space Needle. Not only was there a celebration to celebrate the legalization of marijuana in our State, but there was a special permit handed out to allow adults over the age of 21 to smoke cannabis in a designated area, despite this being an event opened to the public. This is just the beginning, right? We live in such a great and progressive state, it’s just a matter of time that Washington allows for marijuana use lounges and bars.

It’s been almost a year and a half since that anniversary celebration and progress has been minimal at best. Sure, Pete Holmes detailed in a memorandum at the beginning of the year that we should have a place for people to consume marijuana publicly or ‘marijuana use lounges.’ Because of the clean air act, customers will only be able to eat edibles or vaporize cannabis.

If you are going to designate a place to consume marijuana, then let the public consume the herb in any way they choose. The clean air act was created because of tobacco smoke, not marijuana smoke. There is a huge difference.

Also, the majority of customers are not going to care about being in an environment filled with cannabis smoke. Do people go to a hookah lounge and complain about smoke from hookahs. No, they expect it. If people don’t want to be around marijuana smoke, guess what? They don’t have to go to a marijuana use lounge.

It’s been almost a year and a half since that anniversary celebration and one of the biggest names in marijuana, and its’ annual Cannabis Cup, is moving out of our state because they can’t get a special permit for anything – not even a liquor license.

You would think the state would allow for at least a liquor license, a special permit to smoke cannabis, or just turn a blind eye. After all, they continue to turn a blind eye to the marijuana delivery services who are still operating and advertising freely, without licenses or jurisdiction. So, why not turn a blind eye and allow High Times to conduct their annual event?

In some ways, legalization has made us soft. We made a huge statement in 2012 when we became the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana. We were a pioneer in every essence of the word.

Now, years later, we have the newly legalized state of Oregon watching our every move and mistakes, and doing things differently and how they should be. For example, allowing residents to grow their own recreational marijuana.

There are two things that need to happen by years end:

One, we need to get the recreational marijuana retail tax issue sorted out so the retail marijuana stores can survive and thrive. This is issue number one. Quit gouging the lifeblood of our industry. In fact, why not an emergency session to get this fixed?

James Lathrop, owner of Cannabis City, has been very vocal about this. Let’s follow his lead and get this sorted out.

Secondly, allow for marijuana use lounges. Real marijuana use lounges where we can light up a joint if we choose. The clean air act was created for tobacco. If it was created for any type of pollutant, then you got a problem. Try walking along along the road on Capitol Hill and get a good whiff of a city bus as it passes by. This violates everything about clean air.

Also, if legislation passes a better recreational marijuana retail tax and marijuana use lounges, have a plan to implement these things right away. We have already waited two and a half years since we became the first state to legalize marijuana and we still are trying to get our industry up and running. Don’t make us wait any longer.

All Aboard! Follow Us on a Seattle Marijuana Shop Road Trip

April 27, 2015 By Ellie Klein Leave a Comment

On Friday, we had a fun and adventurous road trip to several recreational marijuana shops in Seattle. The trek was complete with very appropriate Seattle happenings, including a lot of rain, cannabis conversation, incredible budtenders, and a very interesting (but super friendly) cab driver who saved us from becoming stranded. You should have been there! But, because you weren’t, we documented a play-by-play of our outing for your reading pleasure. It all started in a mysterious tunnel…

All aboard! Round trip tickets for the Seattle light rail.

Okay, it was the Westlake underground transit tunnel at noon, so it was not very mysterious. (Though, have you been down there at midnight? Mysterious is one way to describe it at that hour…) We took the light rail to Rainier Beach, which dropped us about three miles away from our first destination: Rain City Cannabis.

Admittedly, we had not thought about transportation from the light rail to the shop prior to landing, so, naturally, it started to rain. We tried to flag a passing taxi, but someone beat us to its services. We called yellow cab, waited on hold for many minutes plus two minutes too long, and then called an orange cab. I am still not sure if the orange cab that we flagged after calling was the one for us, but he stopped and agreed to be our designated driver. Swell guy!

Rain City Cannabis resides in an ‘old world’ brick building.

Rain City Cannabis is chock full of some of the friendliest budtenders a recreational smoker could ever meet. Tae, the shop’s manager/designer, gave us a rundown of Rain City Cannabis’ fine selection, which features Fireline, Secret Garden, and Top Shelf. The shop is also the proud recipient of the Dope Cup runner-up award for best hybrid flower. An expansion project is being planned, which will result in more service windows and more products. Rain City Cannabis is definitely worth a visit!

Owner Tae Rhee holds the runner-up Dope Cup award.

Budtender helping out customers.

Remember that awesome cab driver? He is so rad that he swung by to get us after our Rain City Cannabis visit and quickly delivered us to our next destination: Seattle Cannabis Company in SoDo.We have covered this amazing new shop before (here), but we really can never get enough of this local-cannabis stop. The shop’s selection is always fresh and the budtenders really know their stuff. Plus, the attention to detail found here (reclaimed wooden doors? Yes, please) is truly memorable. This spacious, boutique style shop has a very bright future and we can’t wait to see its evolution.

The Seattle Cannabis Co. has a modern reclaimed touch.

Reclaimed accents.

Yes, they got weed.

From that last gem of a shop, we walked down the road to another gem, and, oh, is it a sight to behold. Ganja Goddess has incredible ambiance, complete with 100-ish-year-old exposed brick walls, numerous hanging chandeliers, and captivating tapestries. The shop features God’s Gift, a record-breaking strain at 40.1% THC. Lee, a budtender we spoke with there, is incredibly friendly and full of cannabis knowledge. Be sure to shake his hand and pick his brain on your next visit.

Ganja Goddess adds their sign to the iconic Vertigo sign.

Nice menu.

Lee holding something good.

A touch of taste.

Buddy Boy Farm trading cards.

Because we were in the neighborhood we decided to pop into Analytical 360, Seattle’s marijuana testing facility. We discussed a current controversial topic with the man in charge there: whether or not pesticide tests and regulation should be mandatory in the recreational and medical marijuana industry. There is so much information to address in regards to this issue, which is why High Above Seattle will soon feature an article on this topic alone. Stay tuned!

After leaving Analytical 360, we had a realization: we should have ridden the light rail to SoDo from Rainier Beach, rather than take a cab. In all our excitement, we forgot to ask the cab driver to take us back to the Rainier Beach light rail station. We quickly recovered from this moment because we were having a blast and nothing could rain on our parade (except for real rain, of course). I only mention this for your own road trip! Save a few bucks and light rail away, friends.

An arrow marks the spot.

The last stop on our agenda was Cannabis City, also in SoDo. This was Seattle’s first licensed recreational marijuana shop and is full of very interesting wares, as well as very engaging and intelligent budtenders. This shop showcases glass paraphernalia, including guitars that double as smoking devices. Local art abounds here and the positive vibe is contagious. Do yourself a favor and visit this iconic and historic shop.

Glass smokeable and playable guitars!

The Weedsquatch.

History.

Cannabis City marked our last stop, so we walked a couple of blocks east to catch the light rail back downtown. As we digested our eventful day, we talked about everything from dogs to high parents. We encourage you to recreate our road trip, or make up your own route! Let us know how it goes and spare no details; we can’t wait to hear about it!

3 Recreational Marijuana Questions For 2015

January 5, 2015 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

Welcome back everyone for a brand new year: 2015! Its crazy to think that just over a year ago, Colorado opened it’s first recreational marijuana shops. And since then, Washington has followed with the beginnings of its’ legal retail industry, while Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. has voted to join the party. Imagine what everything will be like another year from now? But before we do that, we still have a year to live so let’s do it!

3 recreational marijuana questions for 2015:

Will all Seattle recreational marijuana stores be open this year?

If you asked us this question a couple of months ago, we would have thought: of course! But here we are, about 6 months since Cannabis City became the city’s first marijuana store to open its’ doors, and we only have eight legal retail shops that are open. Nine, if you include Ballard’s Herb’s House, a medical marijuana dispensary that just passed the recreational inspection last month and will be converting to a legal outlet soon.

It took six months for eights stores to open. At this rate we should have all Seattle pot shops up and running by the end of the year, but that is barring any setbacks such as failed inspections, financing, or any other hurdles the cannabis retail outlets may face. In addition, the Washington State Liquor Control Board may hold a do over in April to allow over 900 shops a chance at a retail license. This may increase the number of shops in the city and the chances that we see openings into 2016.

Will the tax issue be confronted that is setting the industry up for failure?

One major complaint of customers as they exit a recreational weed shop is the enormously high retail tax that they just paid. But tax issues isn’t just affecting the customers, it’s affecting everyone including the legal retail shops, the growers, and the producers. In fact, if this tax issue is not dealt with, it could have a crippling affect to our industry and even the prospects of national legalization. After all, we have chosen ourselves to set an example. This is what James Lathrop, owner of Cannabis City, wrote us last month:

In Washington marijuana products are taxed at a multiple compound rate: That is 25% from the grower to processor, plus 25% from the processor to the retailer, plus 25% from the retailer to the customer [each of these levels of tax pay tax on the previous tax], plus another 10% of regular sales tax, city tax, and B&O [which includes taxation of the excise tax itself]; then there is an additional Federal tax of another 25% [that is a fed 35% tax on the ~70% gross profit [gross after cost of goods] falling out at about 25% of gross – including Federal taxation on the State excise tax itself.).

So on the retailer side alone that is ~60% of the product in pure tax, with ~30% going to to cost of goods and ~1-5% left to actually run the business; the growers and processors are in a similar situation.

All cannabis businesses in Washington are set to fail under this unreasonable and compound tax structure; many will fail, some will survive; but none can exist under this tax structure for very long.

bg-High-Above-Seattle-recreational-marijuana-in-Washington-State

What effect will the Oregon recreational marijuana industry have on ours?

Last November, Oregon voted to become the 3rd state to legalize marijuana. This makes Washington and its’ neighbor to the South, the first bordering states to legalize the plant, which brings up some questions:

1) Vancouver’s recreational marijuana shops have seen some phenomenal sales, especially New Vansterdam. After all, the town is conveniently located about 10 minutes from Portland. We are not sure if Portland will see its’ first store open this year but if it does, we wonder if it will have some effect on Vancouver recreational store sales? From what we here, there is a healthy number of Oregon residents crossing the border to visit the legal pot shops. In addition, will Portland see an increase of Vancouver residents crossing the border to purchase cannabis to save money because the tax burden is less?

2) When Oregon allows marijuana legalization to happen on the first of July, residents of the state will be able to grow their own plants within the confines of their home. Oregon and Alaska will be the 2nd and 3rd state to practice this along with Colorado. Are we going to continue being the stubborn mule or allow our neighbors to the South to plant the seed and help us reconsider?

Two industries, side by side, in the same region. What better way to observe to see what is working and what isn’t. We should take this opportunity and do just that. Work together to make the local marijuana industries a success.

What recreational marijuana questions do you have for 2015?

The Elephant in the Room? Nah, The Elephant in the Industry…

December 22, 2014 By Manic Conrad Leave a Comment

We interviewed James Lathrop, owner of Cannabis City, a few weeks back and he brought up the heavy taxation issue of not just recreational marijuana stores, but all recreational marijuana businesses. We highlighted this last week only to have the first Seattle cannabis store owner contact us with an even more detailed version of the issue. It’s important, so please take the time to read:

All cannabis businesses in Washington are set to fail under this unreasonable and compound tax structure; many will fail, some will survive; but none can exist under this tax structure for very long.

WOW. This issue that James Lathrop brings up is no laughing matter. This is a major issue that could literally make or break an industry, and needs to be dealt with sooner or later. If not, it could have negative consequences – not just for our local industry – but for national legalization as well. High Above Seattle will continue to increase awareness of this issue into next year.

What are your thoughts about this issue? Is this an issue that is directly affecting you and your business? What are your ideas or solutions?

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