Cedar Greens opens its doors

Cedar Greens

Jamestown S’Klallam Drive cannabis dispensary store

Where: 52 Sophus Road, Sequim, WA, 98382

Phone: 360-489-6099

Hours: 8 a.m.-midnight, seven days a week

For those interested in the various uses of cannabis products, there’s a new place to buy your goods: Cedar Greens in Blyn, a dispensary store operated and sponsored by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe.

The new store celebrated their grand opening on Friday, Oct. 11, with live music and vendor booths, introducing potential customers with celebration and positive spirits.

“We’re about offering people a lot more than just intoxicants,” said Mike Smith, Cedar Greens’ general operations manager.

“There’s a lot more to cannabis products than just that.”

The store is possible thanks to what Smith referred to as a “compact” between the tribe and Washington state that allows the tribe to operate under the same guidelines as the state laws stemming from the passage of Initiative 502 in 2012 that decriminalized marijuana in the state.

Before the compact it was illegal to bring cannabis products onto Jamestown S’Klallam land, even if legally purchased elsewhere.

According to Smith, the compact says the taxes that normally the state would collect on the sale of cannabis products get to stay within the tribe, which he says will be utilized to expand the tribe’s community improvement budget.

“We want this money to do some good,” Smith said.

As for the profits Cedar Greens makes on their sales, Smith says that money will stay within the shop to be used for potential expansion and enhancement of the store.

While Cedar Greens carries many of the traditional marijuana products — including pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes, dried buds and high-concentration resins — Smith says that Cedar Greens features many non-intoxicating products aimed at pain management or naturopathic healthcare.

“We’re also bringing in a naturopathic pharmacist every other Friday to help educate and inform the public about the realities of cannabis products,” Smith said.

That pharmacist was later identified as Claire Capriola, a Washington-licensed pharmacist who advertises herself as a “state certified cannabis consultant” on her website, clairesrx.com.

“She’ll talk about what THC and CBD really do and how they interact with other drugs or with diseases,” Smith added.

As far as the store itself, Smith said he is pleased with the staff.

“There’s a lot of really great people here,” Smith said. “Some of them already knew a lot about cannabis and the culture and other things around that, and the ones who didn’t are learning it very quickly.

He added, “There’s so much knowledge here, and they can find you exactly what you need.”

Staffer Crystal Holden said the store offers a “wide range” of products in every category, including working with several local cannabis production companies.

“We wanted to offer the best of what this area offers,” Holden said.

Employee Mason Peters was asked about the store’s vape-related products given that the Washington State Board of Health just enacted an emergency 120-day ban on all flavored vapor products or materials that can make them.

“That decision has zero impact on us,” Peters said. “We had already decided not to stock them and never ordered anything flavored.”

“We were really worried about how having (flavored vape products) would look in the community while we were planning our product purchases, given all the news about them” Smith added.

“After considering what we knew, I decided to not place any orders when we were getting our stock, and two days after that was when Governor (Jay) Inslee made his request (to the Board of Health to consider the ban).”

Cedar Greens general operations manager Mike Smith, left, speaks with two attendees of the grand opening for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s new cannabis dispensary store. Sequim Gazette photo by Conor Dowley