Marijuana

Juneau’s first legal retail marijuana sales could begin by month’s end.

James Barrett co-owns Rainforest Farms, and no other business in Juneau has cleared as many of the regulatory hurdles to legally grow and sell pot.

“We have a couple of inspections next week. And right now we’re harvesting our first crop,” Barrett said. “So, if all goes well, then we’ll be opening Black Friday.”

At least 10 other ventures have sought state licenses in Juneau for one or more aspects of the marijuana business – separate licenses are required for growing, processing, retailing and testing.

Southeast Alaska Laboratories is the first testing facility in Juneau to get its state license. Jessica Dreibelbis is manager and part-owner. Monday night, the Juneau Assembly waived its right to protest her state testing license. She said she’s got some technical inspections and certifications to get through, but that her lab could be up and running by Dec. 1.

Moving marijuana through regular options out of town runs afoul of federal law.

Barrett is tight-lipped about how his crop will make it to store shelves without a local lab.

“Um, I can’t really make a comment on our testing for our products. But they will be tested,” Barrett said.

Dreibelbis said licensees need clean criminal records, and moving marijuana in and out of town for testing could put those licenses at risk.

Paul Disdier, majority owner of Fireweed Factory, is likely the next closest marijuana business to reach retail in Juneau.

His business has a land-use permitting application going before the Juneau Planning Commission at the end of the month for tiny, 158-square-foot storefront on Front Street.

“It’ll be the smallest marijuana retail store in Alaska, I’m sure,” he said. “But there’s one that I know of in Washington that’s even smaller. It doesn’t take much space.”

He said he’s aiming for retail sales beginning in February or March.

It’s too early to know what sort of economic impact the new marijuana businesses will have.

City finance officials have estimated the 8 percent sales tax on marijuana will raise between $170,000 and $455,000 a year.

A 21-year-old Ketchikan man faces charges of driving under the influence of marijuana after he was contacted by Alaska State Troopers just after midnight Saturday morning.

The man was parked in the lot of a closed business in Saxman when troopers contacted him, according to the online troopers dispatch.

He was arrested and later released.

A 16-year-old girl was in the vehicle, as well, and was passed out from drinking alcohol. According to troopers, she was taken to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center for treatment, and later was released to a guardian.

Troopers are investigating this incident, and have sent information to the District Attorney’s Office for review.

A 51-year-old Ketchikan man faces possible charges of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance for an alleged marijuana-grow operation.

Rroopers initially went to the residence for a domestic violence investigation, and noticed evidence of a grow operation, according to an Alaska State Troopers online dispatch.

A search warrant was obtained, and troopers seized 38 plants and about 4 ounces of dried marijuana.

That exceeds the amount allowed for personal use under Alaska law.

According to troopers, criminal charges were forwarded to the Ketchikan District Attorney’s office for review.

In an unexpected move, the Anchorage Assembly has put a stop on what would have been the first retail marijuana business in Alaska’s largest city.

At least for now.

During it’s Tuesday night meeting, the assembly voted on a resolution to delay finalizing inspections for Arctic Herbery, which was within days officially being in business.

The action came after an inspector with the state’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office issued a violation against Arctic Herbery’s owner Bryant Thorp for “providing free samples” inside the business’s location.

“The marijuana provided by Thorp was never part of the regulated market as it was not tracked in the marijuana inventory tracking system, was not subject to required testing and was not packaged and labeled as required,” the notice reads.

The violation points to a story that aired days earlier on KTUU in which Thorp describes giving marijuana to people 21 and older.

“When you hand someone a joint or a nug, they kind of get excited about it,” Thorp is quoted as saying in the piece, which was included as an attachment in official Assembly documents.

Assembly Vice Chair Dick Traini introduced the measure and said it’s within the municipality’s permitting rules to put off final inspections as a way of handling accusations of unlawful behavior.

“We’ve got complete control on this,” Traini said, referring to the mechanism of overseeing the permit process through land-use regulations. “That’s where we have to step up the plate and deal with this however it comes out.”

The state has asked Thorp for a response to the notice of violation, after which time it’ll decide whether his business gets a fine or a more severe penalty.

The Assembly will wait for that decision before opting to continue issuing Arctic Herbery a license or attaching more conditions to his permit.

The action pushes back the likely opening of a retail cannabis shop in Alaska’s largest city by several weeks.

A small number of growers and retailers have been approved to proceed, but are still awaiting final approval to officially begin doing business.

In other areas of the state, company’s have already started growing, testing, and selling cannabis.

Alaska’s first retail shop opened on Saturday, Oct. 29, in Valdez.

Alaska’s first marijuana retailer will opening Saturday.

At least, that’s the plan.

“They confirmed that our product samples were all very clean, some of the cleanest product that they’ve seen,” Abel said.

“Of course, they’ve only looked through two or three cultivators at this point,” he added.

Greatland Ganja is a cultivation business, which means they’ll sell cannabis to shops, but not directly to consumers.

The positive results from the testing facility mean Abel can begin transporting product to retailers like Herbal Outfitters in Valdez, which is holding it’s grand opening this Saturday.

If everything proceeds as planned, Herbal Outfitters will be the first shop to sell marijuana in Alaska — 722 days after voters opted for a commercial industry at the polls in 2014.

The first retail store in Anchorage, Arctic Herbery, is on track to open at the end of next week.

A retail marijuana store is ready to open its doors in Skagway, but it’s waiting on one major detail: the pot.

Tara Bass is the owner of The Remedy Shoppe, a red and white building on Skagway’s Third St.

Earlier this month it became the first business of its kind in the state to pass its final inspection and receive a license to open.

Several other businesses around Alaska have been given state and city approval but Bass is the first to pass the final inspection.

Local regulations require a conditional use permit to open in Skagway’s Business General Zone and Bass received that permit in April.

There’s one hold up, though, and that is right now Bass cannot stock her shelves. She’s still waiting on testing facilities to open once they get the final go-ahead from the state’s Marijuana Control Office.

Bass didn’t want to be recorded for this story, but she says she could open her doors tomorrow if she had the product. She plans to buy marijuana from the local licensed cultivator Coyote and Toad’s Garden.

Bass and her husband run the Mile Zero Bed and Breakfast in town. Originally, she planned to turn her downtown location previously owned by her parents into a pharmacy. Instead, it was a vacation rental for several years. Then, she started looking into marijuana after Alaska voted to legalize it in 2014.

Bass says she feels there’s a need for a retail store and she doesn’t look at it any differently than alcohol.

There are several rules about where pot shops can be located. For instance, they have to be at least 500 ft. from schools and churches. Bass realized that her building was a sweet spot. She also feels it’s a good fit for the community and says she’s gotten a lot of positive feedback.

The Remedy Shoppe is the product of several years of work and Bass says she’s grateful for the support that she’d gotten from her community. She doesn’t yet have a set opening date; it all depends on when the other pieces fall into place.