Uncle Ike's Pot Shop is an establishment in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, licensed by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board to sell

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

to the public. It opened on September 30, 2014, and was the second cannabis retailer in Seattle, after Cannabis City. it led the state of Washington in cannabis retail sales at over $1 million per month. The proprietor is Ian Karl Eisenberg, aka "Uncle Ike". The business is both praised for being the first to inform consumers about

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and ...

s in their product, and criticized for contributing to

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ...

of the neighborhood it is located in, Seattle's Central District. When it opened, the shop was said to be "built like a

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

" with security provided by a company owned and staffed by ex-military service members. As of 2022, Uncle Ike's has expanded to five shops in Seattle, including an outlet store in the White Center neighborhood.

Controversy

Protests at the shop started a week after it opened in 2014. The Seattle chapter of

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

, under the leadership of activist Marissa Johnson, was criticized for allowing

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

remarks at some 2015 rallies concerning Eisenberg's ownership. After a Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2016 protest outside his store, Eisenberg replied through social media that he had moved into vacant property and his several businesses do not contribute to gentrification. Some protestors complained on 420 Day (April 20), 2016, that the business is located three feet (1 meter) from a church that sometimes has youth events. More anti-Semitic comments from a Seattle activist were recorded by Eisenberg and posted online in 2017. Eisenberg reported more vandalism during a July 22, 2020 riot which he considered unrelated to the

Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest or the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), originally Free Capitol Hill and later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capitol Hill nei ...

protests, but falsely labeling him as a former member of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

References

{{Cannabis in Washington 2014 establishments in Washington (state) 2014 in cannabis American companies established in 2014 Cannabis companies of the United States Cannabis in Washington (state) Cannabis shops Companies based in Seattle Retail companies established in 2014 Cannabis dispensaries in the United States