Trish Searls (right) prepares Kaya Shack for its grand opening. The new Portland medical marijuana dispensary based out of Fort Lauderdale, opened on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard Wednesday, July 3, 2014, with hopes to start the first chain of publicly traded cannabis dispensaries across the U.S. Kaya Shack will try to differentiate itself from other medical Marijuana dispensaries in Portland by branding itself as more of a premier coffee shop type of experience where customers will feel at home and confident in the product they're getting. Portland, and more broadly Oregon, has clear and fair processes to obtain a license and there is an existing community of patients. These combined to make Oregon an attractive state within which to launch our chain. - The Oregonian
