Vela, a uniquely designed Seattle pot store, opened last year with fanfare and sophistication.
Snoop Dogg dropped in on Vela’s opening weekend for a fundraiser benefiting the University of Washington Cannabis Law and Policy Project. The store then hosted a speaker series featuring top city and state regulators of the legal pot industry.
All the while Vela, a few blocks south of Safeco Field, was facing closure for allegedly violating state rules by hiding owners in the business.
The rules say if you do that, you lose your license.
Washington’s MJ Industry: What it takes to expose hidden owners and keep cartels, illicit money out
The penalty for hiding owners in a Washington legal-pot business is loss of license. But that punishment has rarely been the result of 36 violations the state has alleged. The case of a Seattle store, Vela, suggests why.
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