Marijuana businesses: Not enough supply to meet demand

SEATTLE -- From the minute Cannabis City opens its doors until the time the store closes, the staff is busy  -- really busy.

"We have a line if not around the building, at least to the end of our building," said Amber McGowan, manager of the store.

She says that while it's good to see so much business, it is actually creating a problem.

"Supply barely lasts us the day because our suppliers can only bring us one to two pounds, which is barely anything," she said.



They're forced to ration what they sell to each person -- it all depends on supply -- so it can vary from one to five grams.

And finding enough marijuana to meet demand is a tall order.

"We call anyone and everyone that could possibly bring us product," she said.

Growers like Sea of Green Farms is struggling to keep up -- and that means money lost.

"We figure we've lost to close to a half-million dollars already."

Bob Leeds is co-owner of the farm. Since beginning operations in April, he said, he’s been losing money.

He supplies five retailers. But he is only able to produce eight to 10 pounds of marijuana every two weeks -- and it's simply not enough.

"A lot of people say you are going to make a million dollars overnight. It doesn’t happen that way, it just doesn’t," he said.

Leeds does have plans to expand — but has to wait for approval from the state — which could take about a year.