Pubdate: Fri, 04 Sep 2015
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Column: Highly Informed
Copyright: 2015 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Scott Woodham

DO ALASKA CANNABIS REGULATIONS ALLOW FOR CHEFS TO GET IN THE GAME?

Shawn, a chef (and expert punster), wonders whether Alaska cannabis 
regulators have considered his industry as they're setting the 
initial boundaries of the legal market.

"I would like to know how they plan to address edibles and 
establishments that sell them. Are they going to allow a restaurant 
or dinner club that is an adult atmosphere like a bar, 21 and over, 
to serve cannabis-infused foods?

I'm a chef and I think that we should have opportunity to stake our 
claim in this 'budding' marijuana industry."

The regulation process is ongoing and regulators are still seeking 
public input on the draft rules issued so far, so things are a bit 
fluid at the moment.

But it appears that no, Alaska's current draft regulations don't take 
into account the range of likely scenarios involving chefs and the 
things they might use cannabis for. But that's not unusual among 
legalized states.

Restaurants haven't yet been able to go for broke without risk or 
gray area anywhere in the US.

And for folks who don't know, a bit of a revolution is taking shape 
when it comes to cannabis and food. Professional cooks and amateurs 
are finding ways to use cannabis to wow guests in ways that go far 
beyond the stereotypical brownies.

Foie gras in hash jus, anyone? Vapor-infused raspberry-coulis-filled donut?

Hamachi "shashimi" with smoked avocado and cannabis dressing?

And those are just some samples from an eight-course dinner in 
Amsterdam detailed by The Guardian this month.

Closer to home, efforts are ongoing in the U.S. to allow such 
possibilities, but it's not a widespread reality yet. Vice's food 
channel "Munchies" reported in June about a Colorado food events 
company, and others, hoping to start what could eventually become a 
new aspect to the legal industry -- if, that is, Denver voters pass 
an upcoming ballot initiative to allow restricted public use of cannabis.

There is still controversy there about easing restrictions on public 
consumption.

In Alaska, the regulators have been warning social clubs operating 
now, which is consistent with regulators' interpretation that such 
clubs are equivalent to alcohol-oriented BYOB "bottle clubs," which are barred.

But those rules don't clearly apply to a chef wanting to make and 
serve a cannabis-infused dish to a diner.

Plus, an existing bar or restaurant isn't a social club, exactly, and 
the statutes passed as Ballot Measure 2 still bar public use. The 
Marijuana Control Board has forwarded a request to the Legislature to 
expand the scope to allow licensing and regulation of social clubs.

If lawmakers follow suit, it would seem reasonable to think that 
regulations could eventually create circumstances to control 
collaborations with chefs and such clubs.

Aside from the club and public consumption angle, currently proposed 
regulations seem to contain a few major obstacles to Shawn's idea. 
But remember, this is a process, and who knows where we'll end up. 
Besides, without specifics, Shawn could be talking instead about 
catering a private party for adults at someone's home, using their 
own home-grown cannabis and bringing his own ingredients. And that 
would be a situation much different from the public one discussed here.

Chief among those obstacles is that there is no license type being 
considered that would cover such a scenario, and the key is 
on-premise consumption. Even if a restaurant did manage to get a 
license as they're currently proposed, the licenses for manufacturing 
cannabis products prohibit direct sales to customers, and the rules 
for retail shop licenses don't allow on-premise consumption. For that 
matter, manufacturing facilities are precluded from making 
"adulterated food and drink" or anything that "resembles any familiar 
food or drink item including candy," and can't operate in "a location 
that is a retail or wholesale food establishment."

The stated goal in the regulation of adulterated food and drink is to 
avoid the possibility that children would confuse a packaged 
marijuana product for something they think is safe for them, or that 
a cannabis product could be confused with its square counterpart. 
Proposed definitions have distinguished "edible marijuana products" 
from "adulterated food or drink," but the way they read, it appears 
that a regular, non-infused restaurant-made cheesecake, for instance, 
drizzled with infused syrup could potentially fit into both 
categories. That potential hang-up is moot at this point, however.

There are other reasons, but just for those above, it appears to me 
that the regulations allowing edible marijuana products have been 
conceived only for products manufactured and packaged for individual 
sale, or those that imitate or resemble other food products that 
could be accidentally confused by children as something safe for 
their consumption. Adult-type sit-down food with tablecloths, 
napkins, candlelight and jazz quartet seems not to fit anywhere in 
the proposed regs. But that's not to say it never will.

If the draft rules go through the way they are now, a change will 
have to happen to allow chefs to get into the game, especially 
serious chefs with a public venue looking to make a name for 
themselves and their establishment at the forefront of whatever 
cannabis cuisine movement is afoot.

And expecting such change is possible isn't unreasonable, in my opinion.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom