ARLINGTON, Wash. — Employees at Arlington's Cloud 9 Cannabis Company are practicing for when they open to the public in a few days.
Call it a test run for THC. They spent Monday fine-tuning their retail skills and learning operations.
Dennis Turner is one of 44 new minority dispensary owners across the state.
"We came up with Cloud 9 Cannabis," Turner said. "It was a dream and we won."
The State Liquor and Cannabis Board (LCB) developed an equity program in 2020. Cloud 9 is the first dispensary to open under it.
Critics said equity should've been on the table from the beginning when recreational marijuana was legalized 12 years ago.
Turner agrees, but for now, he's just happy to have reached this point.
"It's exciting just to be the one who goes first and say this is what social equity looks like," Turner said.
The main purpose of the program is to help people of color profit from pot instead of being punished for it.
Minority communities have historically had higher rates of incarceration due to drug laws, hindering financial advancement.
Sam Ward Junior did more than two years in prison on a drug charge.
Now, he's the CEO of Cloud 9. Ward was hired and mentored by Turner, giving him a second chance to create generational wealth for his family.
"It makes me feel wonderful to know a person like Dennis actually cares because where I come from it's hard. It's hard to make it," Ward said.
"To watch it come together and to now mentor him, I get to teach him how to be an executive," Turner said.
The state said 52 additional licenses will become available in the future.
In an email, a Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesman told KING 5, "These new licensees will face a competitive business environment and challenges inherent to the industry. The LCB will continue to be supportive of these fledgling new businesses and provide appropriate help where possible."
For Turner, seeing a new generation get new opportunities puts him on Cloud 9.
"It's about community, development, reinvesting in the community and making a change," Turner said.