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US | Washington’s first pot auction brings in $600,000

Leo Gontmakher, a marijuana processor with Northwest Cannabis Solutions in Sultan, Wash., smells a bag of marijuana Saturday, Nov. 17, 2014, during the auction at Fireweed Farms in Prosser, Wash. Fireweed Farms auctioned off 300 pounds of marijuana in the first auction of its kind in the state. AP

The Associated Press
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 (http://is.gd/JsJp6T ). 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.