After a delayed opening, LUCID, Cheney’s sole marijuana dispensary, began operations in December. The opening came after a transition, in which 3 Green Thumbs (Cheney’s previous marijuana dispensary) merged with LUCID (a network of marijuana retailers) and moved the location a few doors down — LUCID remains in the same shopping complex as the 1875 First St. location 3 Green Thumbs was located.

Prior to opening, owner Michael Schofield predicted a steady stream of business. Early on, Schofield feels well about the the spot sales at LUCID are in.

“Good,” said Schofield when asked about how sales were going. “We’ve jumped up, I think, 30 percent sales since our first month. [We’re] progressively doing really well.”

Schofield placed the number of sales in December at $154,000. Of that $154,000, 40 percent was taxed. The number is not quite the $250,000 he predicted earlier before opening, but that can be attributed to the startup of the business and the fact that LUCID’s marketing campaign has yet to pick up. To help with that, Schofield plans to do a grand opening for the store once their line-up is fully stocked. LUCID does expect to hit that $250,000 number in April.

Right now, the store is still in the early stages of development. Since LUCID was a western Washington-based company, a majority of their vendors come from that side of the state. That is something Schofield wants to change; he said he hopes localize more of the selection of vendors in the future.

As for their selection of product, Schofield has plans for that as well. With 40-50 strains available right now, Schofield wants to see that number jump to 100. He also wants to increase the choices for pre-rolls to become the “most diverse pre-roll game on the East Side.” As well as increasing the pre-roll selection, Schofield is aiming to expand his overall network of farms.

In all, Schofield views the transition as smooth. With the figures coming out of Colorado (a reported $1,000,000 in tax sales), optimism would seemingly be growing. That is not the case though, due in part to the confirmation of Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general. Sessions is on the record for opposing marijuana legalization and has been quoted saying “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

“The industry is scared,” said Schofield. “We are scared that they can come in, if you watched the raids and some of the things they promised.”

The fear is all speculative, as Sessions has yet to issue any definitive statement on the status of marijuana and the federal government. Sessions, during his confirmation hearing, would only go as far to say, “good judgement on how to handle these cases will be a responsibility of mine, which won’t be an easy decision, but I will try to do my duty in a fair and just way.”

Raids do not just scare Schofield. He said capitalism does as well.
“At the end of the day, Jeff Sessions, I hope, and the administration, can respect what we did,” said Schofield. “I would not like to see the corporations come in and buy it out. I foresee that as a possibility … Marijuana was a grassroots movement. I think they’ll always be grassroots in it. I think it’s an industry of the people. It’s for the people, by the people. It’s a true American industry. And I think we need to fight to really try to keep it in that space as much as possible. There’s no greed, there’s no piece of the pie.”