Legal marijuana goes on sale in Corvallis
ANTHONY RIMEL Corvallis Gazette-Times Oct 1, 2015
CORVALLIS — Before High Quality Compassion opened at 10 a.m. Thursday, a line more than 80 people deep had formed outside. Drivers passing the Ninth Street dispensary honked occasionally or gave a thumbs-up to the crowd, which was buzzing with chatter and excitement. At one point, just after the dispensary opened, a car stopped to ask the crowd why they were in line. “Free weed right here,” a man in line replied “This is where you need to be.”
High Quality Compassion was offering a free gram of marijuana to the first 200 customers visiting Thursday morning, the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in Oregon. And all three of Corvallis’ other dispensaries had similar lines, if not quite as large, through much of the day.
At 11 a.m., an hour after it opened, the Green Room, just up Ninth Street from High Quality Compassion, had a line of about 60. Owner Harold Lareau said he was surprised by its size and realized he needs to add more cash registers. He said the day was exciting. “Ten years ago I never thought I’d see (legal recreational marijuana sales) in my lifetime. Five years ago, we knew it was inevitable,” he said. Just after 1 p.m., The Agrestic Green Collective on Third Street had a line of about 50 people. Owner Kayla Dunham said the size of the line prompted her to rent chairs for customers waiting outside. “It’s going really smoothly, considering the crowd,” she said. Dunham and Lareau both said that they were giving their medical marijuana patients priority and not making them wait through the lines. Dunham said the day was enormously significant, calling it the end of prohibition.
“Today people feel safe to be here. That personal liberty thing is the reason they are here waiting in line for more than an hour, it’s more than just getting cannabis,” she said. By 2 p.m., Beaver Bowls, Corvallis’ newest dispensary at 227 S.W. Sixth St., had a line of around 20, but owner Dan Cochrane said it was much bigger earlier in the day. Cochrane echoed a sentiment that was common in the crowd: that the legalization of marijuana would soon spread to other states. “Cannabis is gaining traction nationally and internationally… this is just one step in that direction of decriminalization nationally,” he said.
Another common sentiment was frustration from people in communities that had enacted ordinances restricting recreational marijuana sales; six separate people from Albany made it a point to tell the G-T that they were frustrated that the city’s ban on recreational sales was forcing them to drive to Corvallis to buy marijuana. The crowds at all four shops were varied in age; men tended to outnumber women, but only slightly. Most appeared to be at or below middle age, but some in line appeared older. Some identified as Oregon State University students, others as professionals. Beaver Bowls, just a few blocks from OSU’s campus, had the line that appeared the youngest.
Some of the people in the lines declined to give their names for comment, but others like Stacy Kill of Monroe, who lined up for High Quality Compassion’s opening, said they were happy to be associated with a historic shift in law. “I think it’s amazing,” said Kill. We can be here and we can be proud. It’s legal now. … I’m proud of Oregon.” She said she thinks the stigma against recreational marijuana use remains and needs to be addressed, but she’s excited about the moment. “I never thought I would see this in my lifetime,” she said. Cheyne Willems of Corvallis, who waited for more than an hour to shop at the Agrestic, had a similar attitude. “I’d like to have it down that I’m on the correct side of history,” he said. He added that he liked that he could buy marijuana without feeling like a criminal. “It’s the end of prohibition. Finally, for the first time in my life I can have a good selection, fair price and know the person isn’t going to run off when they get my money.”