Cannabis retailers in Washington state have received local government approval to offer a free joint to anyone who gets vaccinated for covid-19, according to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board. The offer is only available to people 21 years of age and older and state approval has only been granted through July 12.
The Liquor and Cannabis Board approved the initiative on Monday after getting requests from retailers that wanted to offer free weed to anyone who got vaccinated at their pot shops. Participating retailers need to provide a proper covid-19 vaccination clinic at their store and anyone receiving a first or second dose of the covid vaccine is eligible to receive one free joint.
Not every weed shop in Washington will likely participate, but at least three retailers specifically requested the approval, according to the Olympian newspaper: The Herbery in Vancouver, Uncle Ike’s in Seattle, and Apex in Spokane. But those retailers have yet to confirm when they might offer free joints for those getting vaccinated.
A similar promotion was approved recently allowing bars and breweries to offer free beer to anyone who got vaccinated in Washington state. The governor of Washington also announced a $1 million drawing similar to the lottery first rolled out by Ohio last month.
“Participating cannabis retailers may only provide a pre-roll joint, and no other product may be provided as part of this allowance,” the state cannabis board said in a statement outlining the rules on Monday.
Marijuana has been fully legalized for recreational use in 15 states and Washington, D.C., with several other states decriminalizing use in recent years, but the drug is still illegal at the federal level.
Washington has identified over 405,000 cases of covid-19 and 5,856 deaths from the disease since the start of the pandemic. But the state has done very well with its vaccinations efforts so far, with 7,253,646 vaccine doses administered according to state public health officials.