Washington State accepts first applications for pot businesses

The state began accepting marijuana business licenses on Monday and opened the floodgates. People who want to get into the legal pot business apply through the Department of Revenue.

About 300 applied online in the first six hours. Greta Carter is one of them. She applied for three licenses to grow and process marijuana in Eastern Washington. "My heart is pounding so fast to think that we're doing this," Carter told KIRO 7.

A few arrived in person at a state office in Tumwater, including Jim Brown, who wants to grow marijuana legally in Thurston County. "It's an interesting moment for sure," Brown said.

Long confined to the shadows of society, marijuana is now listed on the state website for business applications. At the Department of Revenue, official signs tell marijuana applicants to take a number.

Jeff Gilmore and Dave Brown stepped into this bureaucratic world after years of growing pot illegally. "I've never had a day job," Gillmore said. Monday they paid a little more than $500 applying for a legal grow in Thurston County. The moment came a little more than a year after voters legalized recreational marijuana. "Dave and I have watched segregation and a man on the moon and it took a perfect storm and the ACLU to make this happen," Gillmore said.

The state will take applications for the 30 days. Producers and processors are most likely to get licenses, assuming they meet all the requirements. Retailers, who must be separated from growers by state law, face a lottery because the number of stores across Washington will be capped at 334.

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