BELLINGHAM, Wash. — It's 10:30 p.m. in an industrial strip mall, and a woman at the front of a long line of people checks her watch, and tries to peer in the covered front door of Bellingham's "Top Shelf" Cannabis store.
"We were supposed to be inside now, right?" She asked, checking her watch again.
She was among many cannabis customers who heard this was going to be the first retail 502 store to sell pot you don't inhale.
"We're going to launch the first edibles in the state of Washington," said Top Shelf co-owner John Evich. We can stay open until midnight."
He would be the first retailer to sell legal edibles, like pot-infused Chex mix and trail mix.
Trouble is--the supplier of marijuana edibles John was expecting was very late. "She should be here at any second," he said.
Why is John's 502 retailer the first to offer edibles? John says the state put an emergency stop on the sale of pot edibles in July--so the liquor control board could approve packaging so as to not appeal to kids--and clear labeling, to explain how much pot is in what you're eating.
Despite the late start, Evich is anticipating a complete edible sellout in hours.
"I think 50 percent of our market eventually going be the edibles and the oils," he said. "We've had request after request."
We asked the question--if it looks like a snack, wouldn't it be tempting to eat several servings?
"That would be like somebody drinking a beer compared to 16 ounces of tequila--it's all one's own responsibility, it should be labeled, but at the same time, would you drink 16 ounces of tequila?"
John says it would be equally irresponsible to eat an entire package of a marijuana edible before reading the label and knowing how you react to one serving.
Eventually, Evich expects to sell everything from pot-infused baclava, to salad croutons. But none of it will be inexpensive.
"With the numbers we've kind of talked about, with the cost we're looking at and adding the tax to it, I’m thinking we're going to be at $30 a package for the edibles."
KIRO
