How Seattle's biggest cannabis emporium is working for the greater good

Washington state collected $300m in marijuana taxes in 2017, which it used to provide health insurance to the poor

No finer privilege or pleasure exists for a journalist than being dispatched to a new city or country, and plunging into its rich fabric of culture, politics and passions.

Six months have slipped by since I moved to Seattle, a city of rather smug Subaru drivers, and whose core activities shake the world through technology, philanthropy or global development.

Seattle is known for Amazon, Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, the largest private foundation in the world. It is also known for its cannabis shops, after Washington in December 2012 became the first state in the country to legalise the recreational use of marijuana.