Pubdate: Sun, 16 Nov 2014
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Associated Press
Contact:  http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/324

WASHINGTON'S FIRST MARIJUANA AUCTION BRINGS IN $600,000

PROSSER, Wash. (AP) - Washington state's first marijuana auction 
brought in about $600,000.

Fireweed Farms of Prosser sold about 300 pounds of pot to 
state-licensed processors and retailers Saturday, the Tri-City Herald 
reported. Bidding took place under a black tent fronted by tall 
heaters, and the event was monitored by at least two representatives 
of the Washington Liquor Control Board. Bidders could smell plastic 
bags of buds before offering a bid.

The marijuana was planted in May and harvested between late September 
and mid-October. Fireweed Farms owner Randy Williams had sold some of 
his marijuana to recreational processors earlier this year, but the 
auction represented the bulk of his harvest.

He said he held the auction to "get rid of it all quick" so he could 
spend time with his grandson instead of packaging marijuana. The 
harvested and dried marijuana was priced by the gram and auctioned by 
the strain in lots ranging from about half a pound to five pounds.

Williams said he planned to donate proceeds from three lots, totaling 
$14,000, to local schools.

Lt. Jeremy Wissing, an officer with the state Liquor Control Board 
who monitored a portion of Saturday's auction, said it appeared to be well run.

"I'm seeing a well-organized event," Wissing said outside the 
Fireweed Farms grow area. "It isn't a circus. I'm not seeing open 
consumption of marijuana."

Williams initially hoped to make $1 million through the marijuana 
fire sale, but said during the auction that he'd be happy with 
$600,000 or $700,000.

The purchased marijuana was to remain under video-monitored 
quarantine at Fireweed Farms overnight Saturday, Wissing said. Buyers 
could either retrieve their marijuana Sunday or arrange for it to be 
delivered to their business by Williams.

Although Saturday's auction was the state's first, Wissing doesn't 
expect it to be the last.

"It's just a different way of moving his product," Wissing said.

Interest in the marijuana auction was so intense that Williams 
commissioned the use of a parking lot across the street from his 
property to accommodate the visitors.

Buyers were provided with a detailed list of strains and lot sizes 
that provided a complete potency profile, labeling requirements and 
the date the batch was tested by Confidence Analytics, a 
state-certified laboratory. The auction attracted about three dozen 
potential buyers from across the state.

Nazareth Victoria, a 50-year-old licensed marijuana processor from 
Seattle, left empty-handed. He came because he was interested in 
seeing what was available, but ultimately wasn't sure about the 
quality, he said.

"I was just interested in the whole process," Victoria said. "To me, 
smoking the product is the ultimate test to tell you the quality."

Sampling the product was strictly forbidden Saturday.

"This is a controlled business environment," Wissing said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom