Prices are beginning to drop at Clark County pot shops after state lawmakers decided to cut store owners a little slack on excise taxes this summer.

Vancouver’s Main Street Marijuana announced the trend in a press release Friday. I’ve posted it below, so read further for more details.

The previous tax structure charged marijuana businesses a 25 percent excise tax three times over along the supply chain: from grower to processor, then processor to the stores and finally once more at the point of sale to the consumer. The system paid big dividends for the state in the industry’s first year, raising nearly $70 million in excise tax revenue from marijuana sales.

On the flip side, many store owners and growers complained that the rates were too burdensome, leaving some unable to strike even a marginal profit. Then, legislators agreed to shake things up this summer, passing a bill that scrapped the 25 percent excise tax for growers and processors and created a new 37 percent tax charged at the point of sale only for pot shops.

Despite the tax rate spike for store owners, getting rid of the excise tax on the production side of the business has paved the way for prices to begin sliding on store shelves. And that’s exactly what consumers have been waiting for.

– Justin Runquist

Main Street Marijuana announces big price drops on vapes and wax!

July 24, 2005, Vancouver, WA — Main Street Marijuana is proud to announce price drops on a wide variety of strain-specific vapes and wax!

These price drops are not a sale, but a permanent change to our menu.

Our store, located at 2314 Main St. in Vancouver’s historic Uptown Village, now has 39 different types of strain-specific vape cartridges to choose from, and the list keeps growing!

All cartridges (which fit on any standard 510 thread vape pen battery) are $60 or less each, with several at $50 or $40.

Main Street Marijuana is also expanding our list of Wax. We’ve dropped those prices as well, with 19 strains available for $60 or less, including full grams of Smokey Point Productions shatter for $50.

Ramsey Hamide, Main Street Marijuana’s owner, said the price drops are part of the natural evolution of the cannabis market in Washington.

“My main goal is to keep bringing prices down for our customers – on all our products,” Hamide said. “We know vapes and concentrates make up a large part of the market in Colorado, and we expect the market in Washington state to move in a similar direction.”

After a year of operations under Washington State’s legal recreational marijuana system, the diversity of strain specific vape cartridges has expanded immensely, he added.

“We want our customers to expect the best prices on these items from us,” Hamide said. “We love our customers. And we want to thank them by keeping our prices as low as possible.”

Hamide said he’s also working on a host of great late summer/early fall price drops on flower and other items, so stay tuned!

“We’re working hard behind the scenes and have many, many more good things coming for our customers very soon,” Hamide said.

Our list of vapes and wax (as of 7/24/15) are below. And for the most up-to-date list, please check our menu at: http://www.mainstmj.com/menu-updated-daily/