Seattle's industrial district has a secret. Although it's not very well hidden—it can be sniffed out by anyone with a sense of smell.

The long blocks south of Seattle's stadiums are home to some of the state's largest pot producers. They create products worth millions of dollars a month in this neighborhood alone, although finding out exactly how much pot is grown here is essentially impossible because the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board screwed up its pot tracking software. And while the industrial district is the center of Seattle's pot industry, weed growers and processors are spread throughout almost every corner of the city.

It's never been easier to buy pot that is so local, it has never left city limits.

This small but elite group of pot growers in our city includes House of Cultivar in Sodo, Saints in Georgetown, and Fire Bros in Magnolia. When I toured House of Cultivar two years ago, I was so overwhelmed by room after room of aromatic pot that I told the owner he should rename the facility the House of Flavor. If you ever come across their Super Glue strain (which seems increasingly rare these days), buy as much as you can. It's so potent, the nugs stick to the inside of their jar and, when smoked, create a stupefying and psychedelic high.

Seattle is also home to some of the strongest edible brands in the country, mostly concentrated in Sodo, with companies like American Baked Co.; Botanica Seattle, which makes Mr. Moxey's Mints; and Goodship, which makes a line of pastille candies, chocolate bars, and other fancy edibles. Mr. Moxey's and Goodship recently started to set up shop in other states. Will the future Starbucks of weed come from Seattle? These brands seem like contenders for that prize.

Not every Seattle edible company is down south. Craft Elixirs in Wallingford makes infused syrups with local names like Wallingford Wanderlust (strawberry and peppercorn), Ballard Beat (blueberry and orange), and Capitol Hill Heat (habanero and smoke).

And then there are the dabs. Seattle's concentrate manufacturers might be our most cutting-edge pot companies, as they are literally creating entirely new categories of products.

Puffin Farm's processor in Magnolia is home to their Extra Virgin Flower Oil, a novel cannabis concentrate prized for its especially strong flavor. Xtracted Labs in Sodo is considered a pioneering dab manufacturer, known for their terpene-rich concentrates. Heylo Cannabis, also in Sodo, is filling vape cartridges with such innovative concentrates that they are forcing us all to learn new pot vocabulary terms like CBG and CBN. Sitka makes traditional Lebanese hash in Lake City that smokes as smooth as the hash in Beirut. And Pearl Extracts in West Seattle is one of the first processors in the country to fill cartridges with different vintages of cannabis so people can try cannabis aged to different years.

This isn't every single company inside city limits, but if you follow cannabis, these are all companies you should know about.

The advantages of buying pot grown within Seattle limits are (1) you'll know that a gas-guzzling truck didn't have to haul it across the state, (2) you'll know the product you just bought supported one of your neighbors with a job, and (3) you'll realize why a bunch of nondescript looking industrial buildings around Seattle have a very descriptive aroma.