Diana Alvarez's son always wanted to go to college, so she started working in a smoke shop to earn some extra cash. What started as a part-time job evolved into a full-time family business: Lit City Smoke Shop, located in Washington, D.C. When the city passed Initiative 71, making it legal to possess up to two ounces of marijuana for personal use, the law allowed stores to "gift" small amounts of weed as long as a customer bought another item. Now Lit City is part of D.C.'s thriving gifting industry.
While reporting a video for Reason in November, Justin Zuckerman visited Alvarez at her shop to talk about the hardships of running a small business that's part of a new industry.
