The first retail cannabis store in Washington state to sell recreational marijuana opened on Tuesday with a queue of customers who had been waiting up to four hours.

“It’s just a happy coincidence and an opportunity we’re not going to have for a long time,” 24-year-old Sarah Gorton of Kansas told USA Today . “I’m really thrilled to be a part of something that I never thought would happen.” Only five stores were expected to open Tuesday across the Pacific North-West state, the Seattle Times reported, despite the fact that the state had issued more than 20 licenses on Monday.

Most of the other stores are expected to open in the coming days, but there are doubts whether there will be enough supply of legal marijuana, the newspaper said.

Store owners are allowed by law to sell up to 1 ounce (28 gm) to buyers over 21.

The state plans to license up to 231 legal marijuana stores, including 21 in Seattle.

Washington is the second US state after Colorado to legalise the sale of recreational marijuana, following voter initiatives passed in both states.

Twenty-one states and the US capital, Washington, have legalised medical marijuana.

The drug remains illegal under federal law, though federal law enforcement agencies have recently refrained from past arrests, seizures and prosecutions against state-legalised medical marijuana growers and retailers.

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