While marijuana retail sales became legal across Washington state two months ago, it's tough to find recreational sales around Seattle.

Due to regulations and issues affecting pot production and sales, only a single, solitary Marijuana joint has opened in the Emerald City. Even then, the Cannabis City store has experienced frequent pot outages due to high demand and difficulty getting legal weed with owner James Lathrop saying the store wasn't doing well because it didn't have enough product to sell.

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By contrast, downtown Denver in the only other state to allow legal recreational marijuana sales to date, features dozens of outlets. The reason for the difference appears to be more stringent Washington regulations. Only 60 stores have been licensed in the entire state and it's unclear how many have opened their doors so far.

Legal pot in Washington must be grown by specially licensed producers, then go to a licensed processor before making it to the pot shop. Stores can't grow their own weed and aren't allowed even to open pot packaging before selling the marijuana to customers. Recreational sellers can't do any business with Washington medical marijuana providers or sellers who have less stringent rules.

Washington also insists on testing all marijuana for recreational sale for potency and purity. By contrast, Colorado didn't require such testing before selling and had far less stringent recreational sales rules.

It's location, location, location, then, for Seattle and Washington marijuana fans without medical marijuana cards. A second Seattle store is due to open this weekend. The closest other store, Bellingham's Top Shelf Cannabis, 90 miles north of Seattle, reported plenty of product available at its shop.

John Evich, co-owner of Bellingham's Top Shelf Cannabis, said he believed the state recreational pot shortage would ease next year as outdoor crops became more available. The new industry was following the rules and would thrive soon, he said.

Tagsmarijuana, medical marijuana, pot, Drugs, recreational marijuana, Seattle, colorado, Weed, Drugs