PORT ANGELES — It’s tough weaning pot smokers from their dealers.
Randy Stark, a manager at The Hidden Bush retail marijuana store at 3230 E. U.S. Highway 101 just east of Port Angeles, said Friday that given current retail prices, illegal pot purveyors have some initial advantage in the market.
“I wouldn’t say it’s hurt us as much as it’s taking people a little longer to come around as far as coming in and trying something new,” Stark said.
“As far as the black market goes, it’s definitely cheaper to get on the street, there’s no doubt about it,” he added.
But he and Greg Brotherton, owner and operator of Sea Change Cannabis in Discovery Bay, said the black market has had overall a minimal impact on their businesses.
“The black market isn’t competing with us. They were here first,” Brotherton said.
“We are competing with them, but I don’t feel threatened by them.”
Forrest Thompson, who owns a retail shop in Port Hadlock under the name Herbal Access, said that in some cases, legal retail pot is pushing out the black market.
“There was one guy who came in here who used to deal in the black market who said that the retail shops had driven him out of business,” Thompson said.
“A lot of people don’t feel right buying from a dealer, and much of our clientele are relieved that they have been given permission to buy it legally,” he added.
However, Thompson, who also owns a medical marijuana facility in Port Townsend — also under the name Herbal Access — said medical pot hurts retail profits.
“Medical definitely cuts into our retail sales,” Thompson said.
“It’s less expensive. Some people have come into our retail shop with medical authorizations and don’t realize there are two different systems.
“If they are authorized, we’ll refer them to a medical store even though it takes some of our business away.”
Stark, who also operates a medical marijuana business in the same building as his retail establishment, would not comment on whether medical marijuana was more profitable than retail pot.
Brotherton’s view is that “the two markets’ [existence] helps them to clarify each other.
“We have a lot of the same products, but some patients want to try out recreational pot before they decide to go down the whole medical route.
“If someone is a genuine patient and needs marijuana for medical purposes, we steer them to the right place,” he added.
“It isn’t always a price issue since it’s not always about getting the most bang for the buck.”
Stark blames state taxes for recreational marijuana’s high prices.
“Before anyone lights anything, there’s already a 75 percent tax on it,” Stark said.
Growers, processors and retailers each are charged 25 percent in taxes.
Stark suggested that eliminating the tax on growers would make it more affordable.
“That way, the farm can offer it at a cheaper rate,” he said.
“Once we get to where everyone is at the same price point, 4 grams for $40, there will be no reason to go to the street.”
He said prices at The Hidden Bush vary from $12 a gram to $20 a gram based on what the store is charged by the farm where the pot is grown.
But Stark also has 4-gram packs for $40, which is comparable to street prices, though medical marijuana already is $10 a gram.
Stark said some medical marijuana has higher amounts of THC, the active ingredient in the drug.
He said the medical and retail stores are “totally separate” operations.
The retail store has been open two months and caters to a mostly older-than-30 crowd, Stark said, adding that would-be younger customers buy it on the street.
The oldest customer he can recall was a 93-year-old woman who paid a visit to The Hidden Bush the second day it was open.
“She got the receipt and took a selfie with it,” Stark said.
“It was actually pretty cool, man.”
Every day, the retail store has more customers, Stark added.
Many customers were under the mistaken impression that a doctor’s note was needed to purchase marijuana in the store, he said.
“Once people started figuring that out, they’ve been coming in in droves,” he said.
One specific market also is increasing: Canadians coming to Port Angeles from Victoria on the MV Coho ferry.
“We get a lot of buzz from people coming over on the boat,” Stark said.
The store offers between 15 and 30 strains of marijuana and “cookies, elixirs and joints,” he added.
If the state wanted to eliminate the black market, it would allow individuals to grow their own marijuana and share it with their friends, Brotherton said.
“Some people would take advantage of that, and the rest of the people would come in here,” he said.
“But the black market would disappear.”
He added that a lot of his customers would not have anything to do with the black market.
“They don’t want to break the law, or they don’t want to have to go through the experience of interacting with drug dealers.
“They don’t want to have to sit on a dirty couch with a dog on their laps and talk about the guy’s aquarium for a half-hour.
“The prices are coming down so quickly that we can compete with the black market and medical sources.”
Brotherton offers daily specials and sells grams for $10 each, tax included.
“The market is flooded right now,” Thompson said.
“There is a lot of crop from Eastern Washington that is driving our costs down.”
The cheapest gram in his retail store is $11 before taxes and more than $14 after taxes.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
