Pot smokers may prefer back of a Buick to Seattle’s legal marijuana store

Police say a man dealing marijuana out of the back of his Buick has been trying to poach customers from Seattle’s only licensed recreational marijuana shop. If he’s successful, does this point to problems with the legal pot system?

Tom & Curley host John Curley says this guy simply sees that he can beat the price of legal sellers who are required to tack on taxes imposed by the government.

“The state has set the tax too high for the marketplace,” says Curley. “When the person has the choice to buy either legally from the state [approved store] or illegally from the back of a Buick, they choose the Buick.”

According to Seattle police, witnesses said the man handed out business cards to customers in line outside Cannabis City, the legal marijuana store in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood.

“This guy is very ballsy,” says co-host Tom Tangney. “He just sort of is waving to the cops, saying hey, come get me.”

The black market for marijuana clearly still exists, says Curley, who explains the government has work to do if it wants to divert people to the legal pot-purchasing channel.

“The only way to do it is you cut the tax down, so you cut the profit of those that are selling it illegally. Plus, then you also enforce those that are selling it illegally to the point where it is not worth the trouble for the limited amount of money you can make.”

The man allegedly selling outside of Cannabis City apparently wasn’t too worried about getting busted, as a Cannabis City employee told police he also threatened to “stomp” another worker who confronted him about his practices.

Seattle police say the man did finally flee after an employee called 911. Police were not able to locate the man or his Buick. But will it be worth his while to come back?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.