SPOKANE, Wash. — It was a party all day at Sativa Sisters for 4/20. Not surprising with some people calling it a holiday for all weed users. But, with mass production of weed and federal restrictions on which states can use weed, the industry is being hit.
Too much weed. That's what some buyers have been noticing at local dispensaries. Jesse Frazier comes from South Carolina where weed isn't legal.
"I'm just coming from a place where there's zero options. So, when I first got here was already, like, so many to choose from," said Frazier.
It's been more than 10 years since voters legalized weed in Washington and since then weed farms across the state have popped up. But due to federal law, many weed growers in the state of Washington are left with an excess, unable to sell the drug to other states where it's legal.
"We've been very picky. We don't want to sell our customers anything that isn't the highest quality," said Shawheen Azizi, the general manager at Sativa Sisters.
There is more weed than there is demand which is leaving many local dispensaries desperate to sell what they have. Azizi says they've had to adapt their business practices to make the most of their products.
He said, "We've tried to position this strange movement in the market to just make sure we get rid of anything that's not worth having in our store."
Azizi fears other dispensaries might go under.
"That's just going to be a different playing field," said Azizi. "And if you can't, you'll find who can function in there who's budgeting better."
As for Frazier, he's all about widely legalizing weed.
"Y'all state is really awesome for allowing people to do it and you know, I definitely think a lot more states should be on board," said Frazier.
In a statement to KREM 2, the Washington Department of Liquor and Cannabis said that quote, "We know that overall cannabis producers in Washington State are not growing to capacity allowed under their license and taking other steps to match their production to what they can sell."
Azizi says that his business hasn't seen a decrease in revenue.
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