The Alaska Marijuana Control Board has approved plans for a new marijuana store on Front Street and Juneau’s first marijuana testing lab, but board members heard Friday in Anchorage that other new businesses might be slow to come.
The reason, said Sarah Oates, licensing expert for the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, is the state is critically short of employees to process applications — and a state hiring freeze means it can’t fix the problem.
“We currently and indefinitely have three examiners for all marijuana and 1,900 liquor license applications,” Oates said.
Under the state’s existing system, AMCO is in charge of both marijuana and alcohol licenses. Alcohol license renewals take place at the end of the year and must be reviewed within 10 days of receipt. There’s also been a surge in marijuana license applications — 458 were received by Sept. 1.
AMCO’s three license examiners (a fourth abruptly quit on Aug. 24) now face an extreme workload.
“The under-review queue has backed up significantly, and both staff and applicants are feeling the pressure,” Oates said.
Cynthia Franklin, executive director of AMCO, said money is also an issue. AMCO is supposed to be a self-funding agency, paying for staff with license fees, but the state only expected to receive $100,000 in marijuana fees.
Even though it’s received “in excess of that,” Franklin said, “a lot more than $100,000,” the office isn’t able to spend that money.
In the next fiscal year, AMCO will budget for $775,000 in marijuana fees, Franklin said.
In the meantime, the division is shuffling responsibilities within its existing staff, having its administrative team take up some of the license examiners’ work.
Jeremiah Everson, a Homer resident and president of the Alaska Small Cultivators Association, suggested AMCO release a balance sheet explaining precisely what it has taken in and what it has spent.
“We could utilize that information to maybe put a little public pressure on the governor to say … can we please, please assist this particular agency with more staff?” he said. “I know you guys are overwhelmed, and I really think the cure-all is to have more staff so we can get through things more rapidly.”
Testing laboratory approved
With a unanimous vote Friday, SouthEast Alaska Laboratories LLC became the first cannabis testing lab outside Anchorage to be approved by the board.
Under state regulations, all marijuana sold in Alaska must be tested for contaminants including pesticides, mold, mildew and fungus.
That testing issue has been a critical concern for marijuana businesses off the road system, as federal regulations prohibit the transportation of marijuana by air or water. While transportation isn’t prohibited by the state and the enforcement of those transportation regulations has been loose, Southeast businesses run the risk of confiscation or legal trouble if they want to work with a lab in Anchorage.
Jessica Dreibelbis is director of SEAL and said the lab still has some steps to follow before opening.
“It’s not over yet,” she said.
The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly must decide whether to oppose the board’s approval, and the lab still needs to get its equipment installed and its new scientific director, Robert Goldman of Oregon, to Juneau.
Once the equipment is installed and the laboratory operational — it is located in a warehouse on Jenkins Drive in Lemon Creek — it must be inspected one final time by the state. If it passes that inspection, the lab’s license becomes active and it can begin testing marijuana.
SouthEast Alaska Laboratories is backed by Robert Steinke (25 percent ownership), Brenda Greenbank (16.67 percent), Donald Zenger (16.67 percent), Gary Rosenberger (16.67 percent), Catherine Johnson (8.33 percent), James Williamson (8.33 percent), and Dreibelbis (8.33 percent).
Second retail store approved
Alaska’s smallest marijuana store will be located on Front Street.
On Friday, the marijuana board voted unanimously to approve the license application for Fireweed Factory LLC to open a retail marijuana shop in the tiny building currently occupied by Artifacts art gallery.
That building, between the Imperial bar and Ben Franklin, dates to 1899 and is only 8 feet wide.
Paul Disdier, the manager of the company and its majority (72 percent) owner, said the location will be a discreet option for locals.
“Some people just don’t want everyone to know they use this product,” he said. “I think they’ll feel comfortable coming in there.”
Disdier said Fireweed Factory — which also owns a cultivation license and will begin growing marijuana in the next two to three weeks — acquired the building almost by happenstance.
“We had looked all around and been refused,” he said, but then a next-door neighbor who knew the owner of Artifacts said the building would soon be sold.
“Over the winter, we negotiated with the owner of the building, and he was very amiable and easy to deal with,” Disdier said. “We now own the smallest retail marijuana store in the state of Alaska.”
Fireweed Factory still must obtain a building permit from the CBJ for minor interior remodeling, must get a conditional-use permit from the CBJ planning department, then must pass a final inspection before it can begin operating.
The store also needs marijuana, and given a 90-day cultivation cycle, Disdier said he’s expecting a first harvest in February and the store to open in March or April.
In addition to Disdier, Fireweed Factory is owned by William Lomax (5 percent), Shane Quigley (5), Kimberly Wear (4), Bob Banghart (3), Joseph Lilly (3), James Disdier (3) and Callahan Dillon (2).
Regulation changes
postponed
The marijuana board had been scheduled to meet Thursday in Nome, but bad weather forced the cancellation of that gathering. As a result, the board was able to get through only a portion of its agenda and did not make significant changes to industry regulations.
The board did vote to send a new draft of the state’s on-site consumption guidelines, which would allow retail stores to set up something akin to a marijuana cafe, out for public comment.
The marijuana board will meet again Nov. 10.
