20 months ago Washington state voted to legalize recreational marijuana, and at 8 a.m. on Tuesday finally become the second state to begin selling pot.

One question is why it took so long from the bill being passed to it being implimented. Writing new regulations, screening applicants, and getting growers and retailers up and running wasn't easy. While Colorado required retailers to grow 70 percent of what they sell, in Washington, stores can't sell their own product.

The state Liquor Control Board has only authorized 80 growers out of more than 2,600 applicants. Growers only received their licenses in March, so they haven't had time to produce a large crop, and the board is still going through hundreds of applications.

The same beurocracy also applied to stores. Applicants had to prove that they had a lease for retail space, and according to the board's website, the shops can not be located within 1,000 feet of "any elementary or secondary school, playground, recreation center or facility, child care center, public park, public transit center, library, or game arcade that allows minors to enter."

Brian Smith, a spokesman for the Liquor Control Board, said 20 to 50 percent of the retail applications were incomplete, and the board gave applicants time to submit additional information. "There is a gold rush mentality. Many didn't read what it would require to get a license," he said. "We didn't expect 7,000 applicants."

The law caps the number of recreational marijuana stores at 334 statewide, and the state has issued 25 licenses so far.

The Associated Press has a list of all 25 locations, along with their expected opening times. Only six stores will be open on Tuesday: Top Shelf Cannabis and 2020 Solutions in Bellingham, Freedom Market in Kelso, Altitude in Prosser, Spokane Green Leaf, and Seattle's Cannabis City. Stores can remain open from 8 a.m. to midnight.

All this means there have been supply issues and long lines, but people are staying positive.

"The word positive just summarizes the whole experience," says Altitude pot shop's Manel Valenzuela. "We had people waiting outside in line with happy faces."

"Marijuana is on the shelves," says Mikhail Carpenter, a spokesman for the Washington State Liquor Control Board, which regulates the new marketplace. "We only expect the system to get better from here."

The law says anyone who is 21 or older can buy up to 1 ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of edible pot products, or 72 ounces of marijuana-infused liquid. People from out of state are free to buy as much as Washingtonians.

According to The Cannabist, marijuana is expected to cost $10 to $25 per gram initially. Prices are expecte to drop as the supply increases.

All marijuana products must be lab tested, with the active ingredients listed on the label. All packaging for edibles must be submitted to the Liquor Control Board for approval, and images that may appeal to children are banned. Food products must have the serving size "prominently displayed on the packaging" and be "homogenized to ensure uniform disbursement of cannabinoids."

There are a few conditions and caviats to the legal weed, specifically there aren't a lot of legal places to consume it. Consuming marijuana, or even opening a package containing pot, "in view of the general public" is prohibited. So if you're in your home you can smoke as much pot as you'd like, but not in parks or on the streets.

On the other hand, the fine for consuming pot in public is only $27, and it sounds like the cops are going lax about enforcement. "Everyone's probably going to get several free passes," said Sergeant Sean Whitcomb, a spokesman for the Seattle Police Department. "We want to be generous." We're still living in a state where the governor worries that marijuana is a gateway to heroin usage, so we'll believe that when we see it."