High Five Interview: James Lathrop, Owner of First Seattle Recreational Marijuana Store: Cannabis City

December 3, 2014 By Manic Conrad

‘High Five’ is an interview where we choose someone from the local marijuana industry who is deserving of appreciation.

It has been quite the year for James Lathrop, the owner of Cannabis City. He survived the media blitz in the heat of July when his recreational marijuana store became the first one to open in Seattle; managed to fight through early pot shortages due to an industry in its’ infant years, and is looked at and admired as a spokesperson for a segment of an industry still finding its way.

We would like to thank this recreational marijuana store owner for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer the following questions. For opening the very first legal weed store in Seattle, we give James Lathrop a ‘High Five.’

1) Predict the Future. Three years from now what does the local Seattle recreational marijuana industry look like and where are we nationally?

NORMAL. Seriously. Selling, buying, smoking weed will be a normal experience for mainstream society (except for certain repressed areas of the US midwest). Prior to Google, I would have said this would be a 10-30 year trajectory, but with the internet (the “power of the [digital] pen” combined with the “unseen hand of economics”), we will see will 20 years condensed into three, starting…right…now. I am also really excited about what the future holds for cannabusinesses all over the world. For example, some friends of mine that live in Australia told me that they recently discovered an online cannabis seed store called https://marijuanaseedsaussie.com/. Ultimately, I suppose what I am trying to say is that I think we are going to see a huge shift towards cannabis being legalized in more areas than ever before.

2) Go back to the age of 21. Someone tells you that you would open a marijuana shop in Seattle in 2014. How do you react and what do you say?

Whaa? Well, OK, sure …

3) What is your favorite part about running Cannabis City? What is the most challenging?

Favorite part: talking to people who are buying legal weed for the first time in their life from all over the city, the state, the country, and the world.

Most challenging part: paying the HEAVY taxes imposed by I-502 and Federal Code 280e. These two laws put the taxation of the product at a compound rate of 85% (25% + 25% + 25% + 10%) at the state level, PLUS an additional 35% at the Federal level.

In Washington it is impossible to make a profit selling legal weed: everything is going to taxes. Year 2014 is “Stay Alive Year” for growers, manufacturers, and retailers. Someday in the future we will make a profit, but for now the State and the Feds are taking everything just like they always have when it comes to weed: remember property forfeiture for growing a plant, a weed? Ha! That was child’s play! Now instead of a one time property forfeiture they are simply taking their forfeiture payments monthly in the guise of “excise taxes” — so really, has anything actually changed? … Fuck man, Dave’s still not here.

4) Who is your role model and why?

I’m going to name one dead and one alive: dead – Carl Sagan, alive – Mark Emery.

I never met Carl Sagan, but like most I loved his COSMOS series as a child, and after opening Cannabis City, I also learned that he was a strong cannabis advocate. He consistently called for an honest, public, intellectual debate over “marijuana” – and he left us before seeing the days of legal weed but I think he would have been proud.

Conversely, I have met Mark Emery, but it has been a while … of course he has been in a US Federal prison in Mississippi for the last 4 years (with a 235 day early release for “good behavior”) — and his story gives me an absolute disgust for the politics of government.

Mark is one of the kindest intellectual souls of our generation and has been persecuted by the US FBI and the Federal Government since the 1990’s. When I met him at a libertarian conference in France in 1999 he had never been to the US. Way back then he told me he was on the FBI’s “Top 10 Most Wanted List” for selling marijuana seeds across the Canadian border into the US. Eleven years later he was extradited out of Canada and charged in a US Federal court in Seattle (Hempfest 2010 – during) and I ponder if the US Feds had not been so obsessed with chasing marijuana seeds in the 1990s, maybe Osama Bin Laden would have been on the 10 ten most wanted list instead of someone like Mark Emery of a Vancouver BC Cannabis Club.

Mark has been to the US once, and only once. For how long is the US going to feel it is OK to yank citizens out of another country for committing a misdemeanor in their own country, and put them in a Mississippi federal prison? I do hope this drug war will truly end – the American political system is obsessed and in love with war — internationally and at home. But Mark is not a casualty — he is a trooper, a soldier, and a beacon of light and positivity

5) Martian Mean Green, Schnazzleberry, and Trainwreck, are some of our favorite names for strains of cannabis. Here’s your chance! If you could name a strain of cannabis, what would you name it?

Iris — Smoke this and see the world for what it is.

Pot Shop of the Month (November): Ganja Goddess in Seattle’s Industrial District

December 1, 2014 By Manic Conrad

She’s a beauty. Ganja Goddess opened for the first time earlier this month to little fanfare, but this little gem dazzles and sparkles in the sometimes drab Industrial District.

The first thing that caught our attention was the old world look of the interior, the exposed brick from a different time, the unrefined wooden wall in the back with a hand-painted cannabis leaf, the concrete floor, and those dangling chandeliers. This set the mood.

The second thing that caught our attention was the weed. Glass showcase cabinets stocked full with a large selection cannabis from a variety of producers, with a little room left over for an expected influx of edibles, favorites of the personable store manager Tara Wells.

And last, the staff. Cordial, and eager to share their knowledge, as well as making sure you find the product that’s right for you. What you would typically expect from good customer service. We are happy to award Ganja Goddess the Pot Shop of the Month for November.

Last Month: Pot Shop of the Month for October: Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop

New Seattle Marijuana Store Ganja Goddess, a Pleasant Little Surprise

November 17, 2014 By Manic Conrad

This last Friday, a sunny November morning, we walked by Cannabis City just before they opened. Not much has changed with this busy recreational marijuana shop located in Seattle’s Industrial District, as line of eager customers wrapped around the side of the building waiting for the store to open. Little did many – if any – of them knew, that just a couple of blocks away in the iconic Vertigo building, a brand new recreational marijuana shop had just opened its’ doors for the very first time with hardly a line waiting to get inside.

Ganja Goddess surprised us from the start. First of all, it is the most stoner laden name of all the Seattle based shops, mainly because of the word ‘ganja.’ We admit, we expected to see a decor which consisted of green, yellow, and red flags hanging in the windows, bead curtains in the doorways, and some Bob Marley filling the air. Instead, we were presented with stark contrast and pleasant surprise to our preconceptions. Forgive our misconception. However, they did install some door and window shutters, similar to the ones provided by plantation shutters, in order to keep the security up as with any marijuana store.

Imagine old world exposed brick and wooden interior, accented with sparkly shiny glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and one softly painted cannabis leaf looming on the pinkish back wall. Also imagine wooden floors to accompany the description. Now stop imagining you are in the middle of a marijuana coffeeshop in Amsterdam, even though that’s what it felt like to us. Imagine instead that you are standing in the middle of a shop, that one day may be located in the heart of the marijuana district in Seattle. Now stop imagining all together and check it out for yourself – you will be delighted.

Secondly, this recreational shop was stocked full with many varieties of cannabis and oils. A very impressive variety and large selection, to say the least. Store manager Tara Wells assured us, ‘You haven’t seen anything yet. We have much more yet to come, including lots of edibles!” Wells made it clear to us that edibles are her favorite way to consume cannabis. So, if you’re into edibles, this may be the place for you.

The budtenders were friendly, cordially, and practically begging to be of assistance. We learned about several strains of cannabis grown by CannaSol, Nugreen, and Buddy Boy Farms, along with some strains that were heavy in CBD’s. The budtenders also shared personal stories and life experiences in between transactions.

Ganja Goddess is a pleasant little surprise and very nice addition to our young and growing recreational marijuana industry. When visiting, be sure to make a morning or afternoon out of it, grab a cup of joe and soak in the surrounding sites and eye candy of the artsy Industrial District.

3 More Seattle Marijuana Stores Open: Grass & Mary’s by Michael Perkins & SODO’s Ganja Goddess

November 14, 2014 By Manic Conrad

North Seattle Gets Two Shops By Marijuana Mogul

Michael Perkins is a busy man. When we spoke to him, he was in the car on the interstate, headed towards his next big marijuana business venture. His goal is to create an eventual brand of recreational marijuana stores spanning the country.

Perkins grew up in the famous Humboldt County for 14 years where he learned the tools of the trade, before opening nine medical marijuana dispensaries and four hydroponic retail stores in California that would have been distributing products grown hydroponically using controlled environment agriculture designers to improve yield rate and quantity within the facilities. In 2012 he relocated to Seattle where he opened a handful of medical marijuana dispensaries.

In July of this year, lady luck was on his side as Perkins landed not one, not two, but three recreational marijuana licenses. Two of the licenses are for retail shops in Seattle, and one in Snohomish. He insisted he didn’t fill out a bunch of applications, but instead ‘got lucky.’

The two Seattle recreational marijuana stores are both open and fully operational. Articulately named Grass is located in North Seattle at 14343 15th Ave NE, and eloquently names Mary’s is located North of Green Lake at 12230 Aurora Ave N. So far, only the Grass website is up and running.

The 3rd shop, located in Snohomish, will most likely open in December. The name of this shop is still undecided at the moment.

Ganja Goddess Opens Today in SODO

It’s about damn time. That’s what we like to say over here. SODO finally gets its’ 2nd pot shop.

A while back we had a little too much fun and envisioned a ‘Little Amsterdam’ of sorts in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle. But if you compare the area to the industrial area in Amsterdam, North of Centraal Station, you just may see some similarities.

Ganja Goddess opens today, located at: 3207 1rst Ave E., and will hold grand opening festivities between 10am-9pm. Stop by and say hi to store manager Tammara Wells, who confessed to us, ‘this wasn’t easy, it was very difficult.’ We don’t pretend to imagine it would be easy opening one of these shops, especially with all the regulations and with it being a brand new industry. If you’re unlucky enough to not live anywhere near any of these shops, however, don’t despair as you can still buy seeds from a site like https://sweetleafmarijuana.com/best-seed-banks-that-ship-to-us/. They can ship a wide variety of seeds to places all over the US, so no matter where you are you can always access the benefits of medical marijuana.