Ramsey Hamide says he has had enough of cannabis price gouging.

When the Main Street Marijuana manager saw what came in a shipment of material from a new grower this week, he decided to close until he can secure more variety, lower prices and better quality stock, he said.

“I’m not going to let these guys hold us hostage anymore,” Hamide said of a handful of growers that he says have been selling bad product for high prices. “It’s hurting the entire system, and it needs to stop. By continuing to play ball with these guys, it’s just making things worse.”

The store will likely remain closed through the weekend and could stay that way well into next week, Hamide said.

There’s a significant shortage of legal marijuana across Washington. Fewer than 100 of the 2,500 or so growers who applied for licenses from the state have so far been approved, and growers that have licenses haven’t had enough time to harvest much stock, because it takes at least 10 weeks to grow even the fastest-growing plants.

The lack of product has led to store closures around the state — including Seattle’s lone retailer, Cannabis City, which ran out of product on July 10 and has yet to reopen — as well as long lines, customer complaints and high prices, customers and store owners in Vancouver have said.