Washington state's first recreational marijuana stores open for business

Описание: (9 Jul 2014) Washington on Tuesday became the second US state to allow people to buy marijuana legally, without a doctor's note.
Eager customers lined up outside stores, made their purchases and savoured the moment.
In Seattle, the city's first 'pot shop' welcomed customers at noon (1900 GMT).
Dozens of media waited alongside customers for the doors of Cannabis City to open.
Alison Holcomb, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney who led the voter initiative in 2012 that legalised recreational marijuana in Washington, was there to lend a hand at the ribbon-cutting opening ceremony.
"I think it's a real testament to the fact that people are excited to see that it's possible to make such a fundamental change to our laws... we demonstrated that it is possible to make change and to do it at at local level," Holcomb said.
In Bellingham people began buying marijuana first thing on Tuesday morning at Top Shelf Cannabis, one of two city stores that started selling the drug as soon as it was allowed under state regulations.
29-year-old Cale Holdsworth, from Kansas, made the first purchase: two grams of pot for 26.50 US Dollars.
The start of legal pot sales in Washington marks a major step that's been 20 months in the making.
Washington and Colorado stunned much of the world by voting in November 2012 to legalise marijuana for adults over 21, and to create state-licensed systems for growing, selling and taxing the pot. Sales began in Colorado on January 1st.
Washington issued its first 24 retail licenses on Monday.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...