Grant County couple approved to open second pot shop
This address, 7835 SR 238 in Ephrata, was approved as a marijuana retail store by county and state officials earlier this year. Susan and Thomas Ralls were listed as the applicants and now have two county-approved marijuana retail locations as commissioners approved one near Quincy last week.
EPHRATA - Grant County commissioners recently voted to allow a couple to open a second marijuana retail store in an unincorporated area of the county.
Susan and Thomas Ralls were approved to open Good Buds near Quincy, according to county documents. If approved by state Liquor Control Board regulators the store would be located at 5384 Rd. K in Quincy.
Good Buds is the second marijuana retail store the Ralls were approved to open in the county.
In May, the state Liquor Control Board agreed to allow the couple to open Purple Rainbow, a marijuana retail store near Ephrata.
Regulators approved the store location following the sheriff's office and county commissioners' approval and a site visit to the future store, 7835 SR 283 in Ephrata, according to liquor control board spokesperson Mikhail Carpenter.
He said Initiative 502, the law that legalized marijuana in Washington, allows the same person, or couple in this case, to open up to three marijuana retail stores, as long as they do not own more than one-third of allotted retail stores in the county.
The Ralls did not return phone calls seeking comment about their business. According to the retail store application they receive their mail at a Soap Lake Post Office box.
Grant County was allotted seven marijuana retail stores, three in unincorporated areas of the county, two in Moses Lake and one each in Ephrata and Quincy.
In June, Quincy City Council members voted to ban marijuana inside city limits, citing concerns that children would have access to it.
Cannarail Station, formerly High Time Station, opened July 22 in Ephrata, but ran out of marijuana to sell in four days and has not been able to get anymore, owner Richard Reimers said.
He said he has been calling state-approved marijuana processors to get more pot, but the demand for legal pot is exceeding the supply.
As of Oct. 1, consumers have spent about $19 million on legal pot in Washington generating $4.8 million is tax revenues.
"It is a definitely a growing business," liquor control board spokesperson Brian Smith said.