Warden brothers open dispensary in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE – The grand opening for Grant County’s newest dispensary, Green Roads Cannabis happened Friday. The dispensary is owned and operated by two Warden brothers, Eddie and Rolando Rodriguez. The new store is located at 224 West Valley Road in the former Valley Eye Care building.  

“Today, we're just opening up the lifelong dream that we've had,” Rolando said. “My brother and I, unfortunately, didn't really get the opportunity to realize this dream earlier, but there was a unique program in Washington state that launched a social equity cannabis program, which gave us an opportunity. Those specific licenses that were given out were given out under unique guidelines under equity and they ran out by county.” 

The brothers won the bid for the Cannabis Social Equity Program in Grant County. The program established by House Bill 2870 in 2020 helps reduce barriers and promote equity in Washington’s cannabis market by those impacted by the War on Drugs.  

In 2023, the legislature passed Senate Bill 5080 which increased available retail licenses and added a limited number of producer and processor licenses for legal cannabis operations statewide.  

Businesses must meet two of four qualifications to apply for the program according to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. The qualifications include the applicants living in a disproportionately impacted area in Washington state for a minimum of five years between 1980 and 2010, been arrested or convicted of a cannabis offense or has a family member who has been arrested or convicted of a cannabis offense, had a household income that was less than the median household income within the state of Washington as calculated by the U.S. Census Bureau or is both a socially and economically disadvantaged individual as defined by the office of minority and women's business enterprises. 

The brothers met the qualifications for living in an impacted area, as they grew up in Warden. They also had a household income that was lower than the median in Washington and they are Hispanic, which is considered a minority group.  

“So, since this program launched in 2023, we received notice that we were given the opportunity to qualify in August 2023, since then, to date, there have only been four social equity stores that have opened,” Rolando said. “The thing is, the four other social equity stores were opened under a different brand with that kind of investment, kind of side of things. My brother and I are 100% independent. It was grown by us.” 

The brothers said the process was “long and rigorous” to open the store. There were requirements from the LCB, the city, Grant County, and other regulatory agencies. Eddie said it was stressful to fulfill all requirements, and they had to move their opening date back to finalize some of the last qualifications. 

“There was a time where me and my brother just kind of looked at each other and said we're going to fail before we even open,” Eddie said. “There's a lot of things that we had today we had to do to get this thing up and running. We're not a family that comes from money.” 

The brothers grew up in Warden in a “very traditional Hispanic home,” according to Eddie. Their parents were migrant workers and had the two do farm work alongside school and sports, while they were growing up.  

“They would have us work in the agriculture fields, it was to teach us what hard work was like, ‘Hey, go to school. Do the right thing. Don't work these jobs.’ We both went to college,” Eddie said.  

Sports were an important part of the Rodriguez brothers’ lives. Now the two plan to give back to the community via funds for activities and athletics to Moses Lake School District because of the levy failure.  

“I will say one thing, one of my buddies yesterday was showing me what his son's bill is to play sports. They have bills to play sports, $800, where me and my brother grew up, we got to play high school sports for free through the school, now people have to pay,” Rolando said. “Now, that shouldn't happen. My brother's very successful in the athletics world. Athletics provide an opportunity for someone to grow, to foster (the ability) to face challenges in life.” 

Rolando said he first discovered the benefits of cannabis usage while he was living in Seattle in his 30s.  

“I was always anti-cannabis 100% growing up,” Rolando said.  

Then he went to the doctor, and he had a blood pressure of 180. The doctor gave him three months to get it under control, or he would be placed on medications.  

“When I was really stressed out, one day I smoked and I woke up just fine with no hangover or anything,” Rolando said. “So, it kind of just started like that. You can abuse anything. You can abuse cigarettes, alcohol; you can abuse water. But for me, it's like I gradually got into it and noticed how it started helping me more with my mental state, my anxiety.” 

When he returned to the doctor his blood pressure was at around 114. Rolando has been consuming cannabis since. Eddie on the other hand, recently started consuming and said although he doesn’t know a lot about the industry he knows about business in general. 

“I've never really been a kind of would you, per se, as a connoisseur, to the cannabis world I'm still learning so I don't really know much about it,” Eddie said.  

When the two told their dad about their plan for a business, Rolando said their father was not impressed.  

“Finally, we somehow, I talked to him one day, and we kind of had heart-to-heart,” Rolando said. “He was like ‘Well, as long as you guys are doing everything the right way, and it's legal, and you're not messing up, and you're doing good things and this, that and the other. I don't want my kids to be criminals.’ Think about it, we are just a regular bar or convenience store that holds alcohol, it's the same thing, but we only hold cannabis.”  

Their dad came around though and began to help the brothers with tasks around the store. He also was the first customer on Friday. The two also get help from a third business partner, Andrew Garza, who the two have known since they were children.  

Garza said the flow of customers on opening day was consistent with three cars in the parking lot at around 6 a.m. and a steady flow throughout the rest of the day. 

One of the priorities for the two is to make cannabis feel less illicit. 

“When we were designing the showroom, we wanted something that looked presentable and something where someone can come in and be like, ‘Wow, this is nice. This is a really, really nice spot.’ We want people to feel welcome,” Rolando said. “It's not at the traditional dungy pot store that you see all over the place. We wanted to make people feel welcome.”  

They also want to be known as the dispensary of Grant County. Rolando explained because the county is so small and easy to travel, he wants to be their community dispensary for everyone 21+ who consumes cannabis in the county. 

“We want to emphasize this is for the community,” Eddie said. “We say, ‘from Grant County, for Grant County.’ Our license is for Grant County. We grew up here, we know people from all walks of life. We have gone along with people here, and we grew up with them. And Grant County is not just Moses Lake it's Warden, Royal City, Mattawa and everything between.” 

Editor's Note: Whether our readers use cannabis or alcohol, we strongly encourage them to do so responsibly without drinking driving while under the influence and being mindful of their surroundings and various safety risks. 

Green Roads dispensary
224 West Valley Road
Moses Lake, WA 98837

    Moses Lake got its first new cannabis dispensary since 2017 on Friday. The dispensary’s logo has a picture of a basset hound because the two brothers who own the store grew up with basset hounds. “I kind of just twisted it like cigarettes have camels, Bud Light has Clydesdales,” Co-owner Rolando Rodriguez (right) said. “We need a mascot. So, I was like, what is better than a basset hound.”
  

    In Moses Lake’s newest dispensary, Green Roads, is a map of the United States with green cannabis leaves on states that have legalized recreational cannabis and blue pins for states which have legalized medical cannabis.
  

    Moses Lake just got a new marijuana dispensary last week. Green Roads is located at 224 West Valley Road, formerly a Valley Eye Care and Premiere Auto Group Dealership.