Mike Boyer turns to the crowd outside, showing off the 4 grammes of marijuana he bought as the first in line to legally purchase marijuana at Spokane Green Leaf (AP)
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One of the first people to buy legal marijuana in Washington state has been fired from his job as a security guard - after his employer spotted him queuing up for the weed on television.
Mike Boyer, 30, was first in line to purchase the newly-legalised drug at Spokane city’s Green Leaf store on Tuesday.
According to the New York Daily News, he had taken the day off work and, having secured his batch, promptly returned home to smoke it.
But soon after lighting up, Boyer received a call from work asking him to come in and take a urine test within 24 hours, after he was spotted on a news programme by a concerned client.
Boyer told the newspaper that the test came back positive for THC and he was consequently fired.
First legal cannabis sales in Washington
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However, he said: “I don’t regret it. I’m sad it happened but I got the title: I’m No. 1. I regret nothing.”
“I’ve worked for them on and off for 12 years and several years ago, I signed a document that said I wouldn’t have (THC) in my system,” he said.
“I don’t smoke at work! “It’s the first day, who's not gonna run down?”
He added: “People who hadn’t smoked since the ‘70s and ‘80s were coming down just to be there. It was the day of days.”
Boyer said he now hopes to find a new job, perhaps working in the marijuana industry.
Washington is only the second US state to allow people to buy marijuana legally without a doctor's note.
The start of legal pot sales on Tuesday marked a major step that's been 20 months in the making. Washington state and Colorado stunned much of the world by voting in November 2012 to legalize marijuana for adults over 21, and to create state-licensed systems for growing, selling and taxing the pot. Sales began in Colorado on 1 January.
According to the Associated Press, the Spokane store was one of just six newly-licensed marijuana dealers to open on Tuesday. Some were set to open later this week or next, while others said it could be a month or more before they could acquire marijuana to sell.
Officials eventually expect to have more than 300 recreational pot shops across the state.
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