The Values of Success
How Skagit Organics Became Washington's Premier Medical Cannabis Brand Through a Decade of Dedication.
Born and Blazed in Skagit County | Celebrating 10 Years of Compassion, Community, and Consistency
Skagit County, Washington | December 2025
At Skagit Organics, we are proud to be celebrating our tenth anniversary as a company this month. In a brand new industry that moved from illegal to over-regulated, we have not merely survived; we have emerged as Washington's premier medical cannabis brand and a leading voice in the industry.
Our journey demonstrates a powerful truth: that business can be conducted differently. That staying grounded in our purpose and our values isn't just the right thing to do, but the foundation of success. In doing so, we became one of Washington's most popular cannabis brands and a trusted voice for medical cannabis patients across the state.
In the highly competitive and over-regulated cannabis industry, it would have been easy to break rules, cut corners, and chase trends as prices dropped and companies raced for market share. But from day one, we took a different approach. Born and blazed in beautiful Skagit County, our company built its success on an unwavering commitment to three core values: compassion, community, and consistency. That choice to do things the right way and for the right reasons is why we’re still here today.
Compassion: This meant creating medicine first, prioritizing patient safety, accessibility, and education, even when higher standards came with a higher cost.
Community: Showing up, speaking up, and giving back to the cannabis community and the patients who built it.
Consistency: Delivering products that patients could trust, batch after batch, year after year, without shortcuts or compromise.
Founded on Principle, Sustained by Values
"We don’t just want to sell cannabis, we strive to help people. Our commitment to patient care and cannabis advocacy shapes who we are and how we operate as a brand, and it's the main reason we're still here after ten years."
The passage of Initiative 502 transformed the future of cannabis in Washington. The cannabis community moved from a loosely regulated medical cannabis market to a highly controlled commercial industry. After more than 70 years of federal prohibition, regulated cannabis commercialisation finally began, but unfortunately, many from the legacy cannabis community chose not to participate or found themselves shut out. What unfolded over the next ten years in Washington's commercial cannabis market was brutal: limited retail outlets, overproduction, no access to traditional banking or conventional loans, oppressive tax structures, and a regulatory agency that continues to treat licensees like criminals. In an industry that has changed rapidly and pushed many brands and much of the actual cannabis community out, reaching this milestone is not an accident. It’s the result of staying grounded in our values, even when it was harder and more expensive to do so.
When we launched Skagit Organics in 2015, we entered one of the nation’s most challenging business environments. The regulated market in Washington was just over a year old and was only the second state in the country to allow the legal sale of cannabis. Things were hard from the very beginning. Skagit Organics almost didn’t even happen. The county restricted zoning for cannabis companies, which meant the property we were planning to occupy was no longer usable. We were lucky enough to secure a location to operate the day before our license was set to be canceled.
With no outside investment and limited resources to succeed, we knew we were going to have to offer something that cannabis consumers and patients actually needed. We were quick to recognize that the medical cannabis community was being abandoned, and as we began operations, we chose a different path: to bridge the gap between Washington's new recreational system and the medical patients being left behind. Patients who desperately needed access to clean, consistent cannabis medicine.
From the very beginning, our company specialized in RSO (Rick Simpson Oil), a full-spectrum cannabis extract created using only food-grade ethanol. This was our first and only product for the first year in business. We did not sell a single joint or gram of cannabis flower that year. While other producer/processors fought price wars and sought high potency tests, we remained focused on creating products that actually improved people’s quality of life.
As the first few months unfolded, we realized we had something more valuable than capital. We had a set of shared values with the cannabis community. We expressed through our product line, the way we approached our business partners, and in our interactions with our customers. While many companies invested in production capacity and fancy new strains, we moved forward with an unshakeable commitment to the patients who found themselves looking to the recreational market for their medicine.
Compassion - The Expensive Choice That Paid Dividends
We understood what many in the emerging recreational market didn't: for patients with serious medical conditions—cancer, epilepsy, PTSD, chronic pain—cannabis isn't recreational. It's medicine. But compassion for patients required more than just good extraction methods and fancy packaging. It required an uncompromising commitment to safety and purity. Washington State did not require pesticide testing until April of 2022, six years after the sale of the first regulated and tested cannabis products. Skagit Organics was the first company to voluntarily adopt a more stringent testing protocol in 2018, committing to pesticide testing on our entire product line. This higher standard went far beyond the basic state compliance testing required at the time and proved to the people using the products that we cared about clean cannabis as much as they did.
Once the state required every company to test for these pesticides, we went even further. That year, as everyone else caught up to our testing standards, we elevated our practices again and committed to the DOH-compliant testing regime, which included heavy metals. As the industry developed, we created our own unique testing regime that went beyond even DOH compliance. We began a system of testing we call DOH+. Every batch of Skagit Organics products is now tested not just for state-required pesticides, but for additional pesticides, heavy metals, DDT, and terpene profiles. When contamination issues began emerging in cannabis grown on legacy orchards containing heavy metals and DDT still present in the soil from previous agricultural operations, Skagit Organics patients were already protected.
Compassion also means accessibility. Our products are now available in over 300 retail locations across Washington State, ensuring patients throughout the state can access medical-grade cannabis. We offer free access to Department of Health Certified Medical Cannabis Consultants whose primary role is providing education and support to individual customers, patients, and retail stores—making us one of the only companies with dedicated staff focused solely on patient guidance.
"When you're creating medicine for cancer patients, for children with epilepsy, for people managing chronic pain—there's no room for shortcuts.” “Every batch matters. Every test matters. These aren't just products; they're potentially life-changing medicine for people who desperately need them to work consistently and safely."
Today, Skagit Organics is the leading DOH-compliant brand in Washington. Many competitors chose not to subject their products to these higher standards when they realized the additional costs and complexity. Skagit Organics never wavered. Their compassion for patients wasn't negotiable—it was foundational.
Their comprehensive product line serves diverse patient needs: RSO Original available in multiple cannabinoid profiles (THC, CBD, CBG, and CBN), convenient RSO Capsules, Platinum Distillate Oils and Vape Cartridges, Skagit Preserves Flash-Frozen Cannabis Flower, and Wild Mint award-winning topicals for targeted relief.
Community - Advocating For Partnerships And Collaboration
While many companies view competitors as adversaries, we understood early on that the entire cannabis community rises or falls together. Our commitment to community goes far beyond selling products—it means showing up, speaking up, and giving back to advance the industry as a whole.
Skagit Organics is an active member of The Cannabis Alliance, Washington's largest and most effective cannabis trade organization, with ownership representation on the board of directors. The Cannabis Alliance is dedicated to advancing a vital, ethical, equitable, and sustainable cannabis industry—values that align perfectly with Skagit Organics' mission.
he presenting sponsor of the annual Washington Cannabis Summit, the state's premier gathering of industry leaders, policymakers, and advocate
"We show up, we speak up, and we give back.” "The cannabis community, especially among those who fought for legalization—is tight-knit, passionate, and rooted in shared experience. Unfortunately, not every company respects that legacy. But we do our best to honor the people who pushed our industry forward."
Community engagement isn't just symbolic—it delivers real results for patients. Through years of advocacy work with The Cannabis Alliance and its member companies, Skagit Organics helped secure a major victory for medical cannabis patients: on June 6, 2024, House Bill 1453 took effect, eliminating the 37% excise tax for registered medical cannabis patients purchasing DOH-compliant products.
Combined with existing sales tax exemptions, this represents a nearly 47% price reduction. making medical-grade cannabis significantly more affordable for patients facing chronic conditions. For someone managing cancer, epilepsy, or chronic pain, this isn't just tax policy. It's relief. It's hope. It's their quality of life.
We also extend our community commitment beyond cannabis circles. We are an active member of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce and participate in local events, including the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, demonstrating that cannabis businesses can be responsible, engaged community partners who contribute positively to their local communities.
Consistency: Building Trust One Batch at a Time
For patients managing serious medical conditions, consistency isn't a luxury; it's essential. When someone finds a cannabis product that helps control their seizures or manage their cancer symptoms, they need absolute confidence that next month's batch will work exactly the same way. Product inconsistency isn't just inconvenient for medical patients; it can be dangerous. Skagit Organics built our reputation on relentless consistency across every aspect of our operation:
Extraction methodology: The same whole-plant RSO process using food-grade ethanol, every single time
Testing standards: DOH+ protocols applied to every batch without exception—no shortcuts, no compromises
Transparency: Each product is labeled with the grower's name, detailed cannabinoid and terpene information, with frequent updates about sourcing through social media and our website
Patient support: Consistent availability and engagement with individual patients and retail partners. Patients can even book one-on-one virtual consultations with us online.
"Patients can't afford product inconsistency.” "When someone is managing epilepsy or cancer, they need to trust that the medicine that worked last month will work this month. That trust—built batch after batch, year after year—is what made us the premier RSO brand in Washington."
The commitment to consistency has earned recognition throughout the industry. Skagit Organics has been voted Best RSO in Washington multiple years running. At the 2023 NW Leaf Bowl, they took home three awards, including 1st Place THC RSO and 1st Place Alternative Cannabinoid RSO. In 2024, they successfully defended our title. Recent data shows Skagit Organics maintaining a top 10 position among Washington concentrate brands, with our Blue Dream RSO holding the #1 sales position for multiple consecutive months.
The Next Decade: Values as Foundation
As Skagit Organics enters its second decade, the cannabis industry continues to face significant challenges and uncertainty. Federal prohibition persists. Banking restrictions remain. Market consolidation threatens small businesses. Corporate interests continue pushing for regulatory frameworks that favor scale over quality.
But Skagit Organics represents a different model—a model the industry desperately needs. We are a cannabis company owned and operated by people who actually use cannabis, who care deeply about the quality of their products, the people who use them, and who contribute in positive ways to their local communities. We have proven you can prioritize patient safety over profit margins, community advocacy over quarterly results, and long-term relationships over short-term gains,to not just survive, but to thrive.
As a company, we will continue advocating for policy improvements that serve patients and move us towards a fully legal, not just commercial, cannabis industry. Expanded access to medical cannabis, streamlined registration processes for patients, remote consultations with medical cannabis consultants, and the legal right for any person to grow their own cannabis at home. We remain committed to education, normalization, and ensuring that the legacy cannabis community and medical patients maintain a voice in shaping the industry's future.
As Skagit Organics celebrates our tenth anniversary, our journey tells a powerful story: values aren't obstacles to business success—they're the foundation for it. In an industry that can feel dominated by profit motives and corporate interests, Skagit Organics proves that staying grounded in compassion, community, and consistency isn't just noble or idealistic…It's the most valuable competitive advantage of all.
"As we look ahead, we know the industry will continue to evolve—but our values will not. "Compassion, community, and consistency. They are our compass, our foundation, and our promise to the people we serve. They got us here, and we will move forward together."