State licensing changes affecting local marijuana stores
By Lindsay Peyton
Marijuana is not just for stoner kids anymore.
The typical user has changed -- now that buying weed is legal and has a growing menu of ways to consume it.
“If you spend a day in our store, you’ll see that anyone out on the street could be coming in,” Steven Ode, chief operating officer of Seattle Cannabis Co. said. “We get a lot of professional people and a lot of your stereotypical users.”
Clifford Gehrett, manager at the West Seattle Marijuana Store, 10825 Myers Way S., said most of his customers are middle aged.
“But we do have customers coming who are 21 years old all the way up to 80-plus,” he said. “We get everyone from your landscaper coming in straight after work to people wearing suits who just came from those high rises downtown.”
Some shoppers are surprised to find that prices in the store are comparable or even less than what street dealers offer.
“Certainly the quality is better – and what people get on the streets is not lab-tested or regulated,” Gehrett said. “People want the comfort of knowing what they are getting – and what dosage they should be buying.”
