--- title: First Legal Marijuana Purchase Donated to Seattle Museum description: A grandma donated the first legal recreational marijuana purchase to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, Washington. canonical: https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-22T17:45:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:51.487Z og:title: First Legal Marijuana Purchase Donated to Seattle Museum og:description: A grandma donated the first legal recreational marijuana purchase to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, Washington. og:url: https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9981c4e391ee2494/69869caa06f2c187c733000f/marijuana-at-a-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Marijuana-At-A-Museum og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: First Legal Marijuana Purchase Donated to Seattle Museum twitter:description: A grandma donated the first legal recreational marijuana purchase to the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, Washington. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9981c4e391ee2494/69869caa06f2c187c733000f/marijuana-at-a-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # First Recreational Marijuana Legally Sold in Seattle Donated to Museum ## Video: 4/20 Celebrations In Colorado & Washington Bring Out Tens Of Thousands [Watch (HLS stream): 4/20 Celebrations In Colorado & Washington Bring Out Tens Of Thousands](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ij16ehEC.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2014-04-21. The crowds were larger crowds and, presumably, the smoke was thicker than ever before as both Colorado and Washington State celebrated the pot smoker’s holiday 4/20._ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 22, 2014 5:45 PM UTC  In this July 8, 2014, file photo, Deb Greene, 65, Cannabis City's first customer, displays her purchase of legal recreational marijuana at the store in Seattle. In this July 8, 2014, file photo, Deb Greene, 65, Cannabis City's first customer, displays her purchase of legal recreational marijuana at the store in Seattle.Elaine Thompson – AP by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 22, 2014 5:45 PM UTC The first marijuana sold for recreational purposes in Seattle is being donated to the city’s [Museum of History and Industry](http://www.mohai.org/), the Associated Press [reports](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FMARIJUANA%5FAT%5FA%5FMUSEUM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT). Deb Greene, a 65-year old grandmother, purchased it at the store Cannabis City on July 8, when the state’s first legal, recreational marijuana stores [opened](http://time.com/2955024/washington-where-to-buy-pot/). The retiree brought “a chair, sleeping bag, food, water and a 930-page book” so she could camp out overnight and be the first in line, the [AP reported](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/washington-pot-shops-prepare-historic-sales) at the time. She purchased two bags of legal weed, one for personal use and another that was signed by Cannabis City owner, James Lathrop, so it could be “saved forever,” Greene told [the Seattle Times](http://blogs.seattletimes.com/pot/2014/07/07/grandmother-plans-overnight-wait-to-be-seattles-first-legal-pot-buyer/). “You don’t use history.” As [Greene told ](http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2014/07/the-first-in-line-to-buy-legal-marijuana-in.html)the Puget Sound Business Journal, “I wanted to be a part of this, this is part of the history of our city.” **MORE**: [The Rules About Pot Just Changed in Washington D.C.](http://time.com/3001792/washington-dc-pot-decriminalization-law/) **MORE**: [House Votes to Help Pot Businesses Use Banks](http://time.com/2995182/pot-banks-congress-vote/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/"},"headline":"First Recreational Marijuana Legally Sold in Seattle Donated to Museum","datePublished":"2014-07-22T17:45:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:11:51.487Z","description":"A marijuana milestone saved for posterity","url":"https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Marijuana","Drug Policy","society","nation","Seattle","Washington State"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9981c4e391ee2494/69869caa06f2c187c733000f/marijuana-at-a-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9981c4e391ee2494/69869caa06f2c187c733000f/marijuana-at-a-museum.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Marijuana-At-A-Museum","caption":"In this July 8, 2014, file photo, Deb Greene, 65, Cannabis City's first customer, displays her purchase of legal recreational marijuana at the store in Seattle.","creditText":"Elaine Thompson – AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/","name":"First Recreational Marijuana Legally Sold in Seattle Donated to Museum"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"4/20 Celebrations In Colorado & Washington Bring Out Tens Of Thousands","description":"The crowds were larger crowds and, presumably, the smoke was thicker than ever before as both Colorado and Washington State celebrated the pot smoker’s holiday 4/20.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Ij16ehEC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-21T16:25:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ij16ehEC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/","duration":"PT2M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3019462/first-legal-recreational-marijuana-donated-seattle-museum/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```