From the Archive

Legal or not, marijuana still has a stigma. When most Americans think of getting stoned, they imagine three pints of ice cream in an hour and too many games of Mortal Kombat, or a white dude with dreads holding a Frisbee, his bandana-sporting black lab panting at his side. And for the foreseeable future, that stereotype is likely to remain intact—especially in the 48 states that have yet to legalize. There’s not much I can do on my own to change that.

But I think that what’s about to happen in Washington can. Legal marijuana in our state is going to drive an economic renaissance that will change the way people think of this long-misunderstood plant—even in places like Longview, the logging town where our production is based.

Our Longview home is better known as the namesake of a Green Day song (“Longview,” off their 1994 album Dookie) than for its thriving local economy. The recent economic recession didn’t help our town’s 38,000 or so residents much; in fact, between 2008 and 2010 Cowlitz County (where Longview resides) lost jobs in all sectors except education and health, and between February 2010-February 2012 there was a mere 1% county job growth.

One cannabis-infused cold brew coffee and lemon ginger soda at a time, Mirth is in a position to help change Longview’s trajectory. We’re a small town company that uses local, natural ingredients. With our entire manufacturing operation based out of Longview, we employ and partner with local folks. In this way, we’re part of a monumental shift in towns across the state that isn’t just about getting high with The Man’s permission, but also about revitalizing local economies. And we are just as excited to be a part of that as we are about our products. This is about changing our collective understanding of what marijuana means in our culture, because it can do a lot more for us than get us high. This is a marijuana renaissance.

What does that renaissance look like here in Washington? It looks like sweet, sweet victory—which is a sentiment we recently shared with the hundreds of marijuana retailers all over the state who received licenses to open their businesses this summer. It looks like jobs. It looks like a lucky break. It looks like a more mirthful future for Washington. It looks like our kind of progress.

Moratorium is a hard word to pronounce, let alone define. But since Initiative 502 passed, it’s been on a lot of Washington politicians’ tongues. A moratorium is essentially a ban, one lasting as little as 60 days or as long as, well, forever. It’s a dirty word for ganjapreneurs like myself, as several Washington-state cities and counties have recently placed moratoriums on legal marijuana.

As of March 2014, 34 cities and 14 entire counties in Washington have voted to either put a hold on marijuana businesses in their within their boundaries or ban them entirely. More than a million citizens are going to be affected by those restrictions. And pot enthusiasts or not, all of those citizens have been rudely uninvited to one legendary party. Fear of the unknown is driving a lot of these moratoriums, and I think this fear is illogical Reefer Madness all over again.

The problem with city and county marijuana moratoriums is obvious. For one thing, the state as a whole will see drastically less tax revenue and, in its place, a more robust marijuana black market from city to affected city. But each moratorium is also a massive inconvenience to individual citizens. If pot is legal in the state of Washington but illegal in your hometown of Kent or Kennewick, what does that mean for you, the marijuana consumer who voted yes on 502? It means that in order to enjoy a 100% legal plant/product, you would have to drive out of your city or county to do so. And we’re not talking about a brief little Driving Miss Daisy type-situation; if the current moratorium regulations stay in place some WA citizens will have to to drive up to 100 miles out of their way to purchase legal cannabis.

Imagine if, in order to enjoy a single beer or glass of wine on Friday night, you had to drive 60 miles out of town.

Imagine if, in order to enjoy a single beer or glass of wine on Friday night, you had to drive 60 miles out of town. Imagine if you liked smoking cigars every now and again—except every time you wanted to puff one you had to drive an hour and a half out of your way, then another hour and a half back. After a very short while you’d start questioning why.

This is why I believe city and county moratoriums to be laughably narrow-minded. Does it make more sense to boost your city’s unregulated, untested marijuana black market or to instead provide your residents with safe, regulated access to weed that didn’t sprout in some creepy dude’s darkened basement? Is it better to increase your county’s tax revenue with the legal sale of pot or to instead delay the inevitable, month by money-squandering month?

I feel that adults in Washington can make their own decisions when it comes to marijuana usage. And with the passing of I-502, they already have. City and county moratoriums are out-of-touch blasts from the past. Marijuana legalization signals the beginning of a long-awaited shift away from the worn-out Cheech & Chong stoner stereotype toward a more mature, educated attitude about a plant that’s been enjoyed recreationally for thousands of years. We’re headed there either way; our local leaders just need to decide how long they want to wait to join us.

On July 8th, 2014, Washington made history when the first 24 marijuana retailers opened their doors and let the masses in to purchase weed legally. It was an awesome day—I was at the block party outside my neighborhood’s brand new pot shop, Main Street Marijuana, to celebrate this momentous occasion with A LOT of my fellow Washingtonians (check out the video I took). But amidst the festivities, you might have noticed that Legal sodas and coffees were nowhere to be found. In fact, no edibles and drinkables whatsoever were available on the big opening day.

And there’s a reason for that. Well, two, actually.

1) Washington is building the recreational marijuana industry from scratch.

As you may have heard through the media storm around legalization, our state has taken the slow and steady approach to getting this new industry up and running. In contrast to Colorado’s decision to sell recreational cannabis through existing medical dispensaries, which put them on the fast track to a lot of profit (and, unfortunately, a lot of problems), Washington elected to launch a completely separate market. I’ve always thought this was a smart choice, and I still do. But the challenges associated with this approach have definitely slowed our company’s process down significantly. For example, no edibles processors were able to get licensed in time for July 8th, hence the absence of sodas and coffees from pot shop shelves.

2) The Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) is playing it safe.

Really, really safe. Their latest set of emergency rules has put regulations in place that ban pasteurization, refrigeration and canning. Unfortunately, these precautions make it impossible for us to make cannabis-infused coffees at this time.

Does that mean there will never be a Legal cold brew coffee, or that there will be no edibles in the Washington market? No way! It actually means that our government and the WSLCB are taking necessary precautions to make sure edibles and drinkables, which have a very different effect on the body than smoking, can be enjoyed to the fullest. We respect that. We think the key to having fun with our product is knowing your limits and imbibing responsibly, so the WSLCB’s approach resonates with our philosophy.

That said, we believe that the marijuana edibles processors in Washington should be allowed to play by the same rules as any other food producer. We’re more than happy to comply with regulations that make our beverages safer for our consumers, but we don’t think banning pasteurization and canning is the way to make that happen. We think the WSLCB will recognize that soon, too, and when they do, we’ll be excited and ready to make our cold brew coffees.

In the meantime, we have awesome news: we finally received our processor’s license! And that means we’re making a lot of sodas. Though they haven’t garnered as much media attention, we are equally proud of these tasty sparkling concoctions. We make our sodas from all natural ingredients, with no corn syrup or other freaky additives, and we use local fruit whenever we can. Stay tuned here or through our e-mail newsletter so you can be one of the first to try them.

A question came up in our offices the other day: with so many obstacles along the way as we get the legal marijuana market up and running, what does the future hold for weed in Washington?

It’s hard not to feel a little apprehensive. As a variety of sources have noted, Washington is in the midst of a cannabis supply and demand problem. You can find signs in many marijuana retail shop windows asking you to come back another day, as the mad rush for legal cannabis quickly cleaned out their inventory. And even when the shops are open, strict emergency rules from the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) have kept edibles and drinkables, including ours, off the shelves for the time being.

I get why the WSLCB is being so cautious—edibles are an even newer, more uncharted territory than this industry itself. But I wonder what the legalized marijuana industry is without edibles and drinkables. Colorado estimates that over 38% of marijuana retailer revenues are from edible products. I want consumer safety to be a consideration, but not the only consideration. I believe that, if of legal age, we should give the consumer the opportunity to decide, and to trust that companies like Mirth are operating with safety in mind regardless of the WSLCB.

With that said, I also think that it’s important to keep these rough patches in perspective. The WSLCB states in their guidelines that I-502 is on a five year plan. In other words, legalized marijuana in our state isn’t going anywhere for a while.

It’s important to keep these rough patches in perspective.

So despite the fact that the road to legalization is bumpy and unknown, I think this is a time to celebrate. Let’s celebrate that our state has decriminalized something that has brought joy and relief to people around the world for thousands of years. Let’s celebrate the potential for economic revitalization to small towns in our state. Let’s celebrate the fact that our citizens have the power to change laws and open minds with our votes.

When Initiative 502 was first introduced to Washingtonians it passed by a margin of 56% to 44%; that’s nearly 15% of the vote. Voter turnout for the 2012 election was subsequently placed at 81.25% of all registered Washington voters. That was the highest voter turnout in the United States in 2012 by a landslide, and it was driven by the people’s desire for marijuana reform. It was a victory then, and it’s still a victory now.

Are there retailer and supply-demand kinks to be worked out? Yep. I-502 was a history-making vote, and making history isn’t a simple process. But for now, let’s celebrate what we as a state have already accomplished.