UPDATE: There is no longer a shortage. Recreational weed in Washington State is now plentiful. Check out marijuana stores in Seattle.
Even if you have been paying just a little bit of attention to local media reports, you are most likely aware of this massive dark cloud looming over the recreational marijuana industry, also known as the ‘impending legal pot shortage.’
So big, this cloud is, that national media outlets such as Time Magazine is picking up on the story. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that we were headed towards another Y2K disaster or a food shortage. But apparently I don’t know any better and its actually worse: Washington State could be facing a crisis where potentially 6,541,367 residents could be without ‘legal’ cannabis!
Board your windows, lock your doors, and stuff your stash inside your safe (just in case pot hungry intruders break down your homemade barricade). Take the food, take the whiskey, even take my family – just don’t take my weed!
While there may be a ‘legal’ pot shortage come Tuesday, July 8th, and stores may end up closing early, is it really as “doom and gloom” as the media is making it out to be? Keep in mind that all of this crazy hysteria is about ‘legal’ pot. Yes, ‘recreational’ marijuana. As someone brilliantly stated recently, ‘This is Washington…when has there ever been a shortage of weed?”
Over the last few months the Washington State Liquor Control Board has received a lot of criticism for their painfully slow rollout of I-502. As it stands now, we will be lucky if we see 20 recreational weed shops open on the 8th. In addition, only a handful of farms and processors have been issued proper licenses. The slow rollout and limited licenses issued to growers, processors, and retailers could be a direct cause for the potential shortage.
But, is it really bad that the WSLQB has only issued a limited amount of licenses to retailers, growers and processors? Maybe a wait and see approach is actually a really good thing, instead of diving – all at once – into the unknown. Maybe having a ‘legal’ marijuana shortage at first, to better gauge this industry, is better than having a surplus of 10,000 lbs. laying around.
What do you think? Have you contacted every single cannabis delivery service in Seattle and stocked up on weed? Maybe you’ve checked out places like Mankind Dispensary to see what other types of cannabis products you can get your hands on before enquiring about their delivery services? Or have you gone a step further and boarded up your windows? Or, are you excited for this industry to happen, and have a nice little joint along with some buttered popcorn?
