Pubdate: Sat, 21 Nov 2015
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
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: Laurel Andrews

ALASKA MARIJUANA CONTROL BOARD MAKES MAJOR RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT 
CHANGE AT LAST MINUTE

At the end of an all-day meeting Friday to craft Alaska's first 
regulations over the cannabis industry, the state Marijuana Control 
Board adopted new rules that could blow the door wide open to Outside 
investment.

Marijuana businesses must be 100 percent Alaskan owned, but the 
definition of what makes an Alaskan was changed from matching what is 
needed to receive a Permanent Fund dividend to matching voter 
registration requirements, which is far easier to achieve.

Assistant Attorney General Harriet Milks called it a "sea change" 
that could "upend the whole program."

Qualifying for a PFD requires documents such as employment and school 
records or vehicle registration, and a certain number of days spent 
physically in the state.

By contrast, for Alaska voter registration requirements, all that is 
needed is a physical address and no other voter registration elsewhere.

The vote passed 3-2 as the meeting came to a close, with Loren Jones, 
public health board member, and Peter Mlynarik, the public safety 
board member, dissenting.

Jones said he opposed the vote because all that would be needed to 
prove residency is to rent an apartment and cancel one's voter 
registration in any other state.

Board member Mark Springer said he proposed the amendment because 
there had been concerns that the requirement would limit opportunity 
for some Alaskans to be able to invest.

"There are people in this state who travel out of state long enough 
not to get a dividend, but they live here, so I was looking at it as 
providing the opportunity," Springer said.

He said he'd consider it a "major failure" if non-Alaskans flew up, 
rented an apartment and claimed residency. He noted that the 
amendment still had to withstand the Department of Law's review.

Earlier in the day, the board had voted down two separate amendments 
that would have allowed for 25 percent Outside investment, but the 
final changes, some said, were actually far more inclusive for Outsiders.

"When you have 75 percent ownership then you give immediate value to 
Alaska residents. Now, right now .... an Alaska resident is not 
needed to have a place in this market," marijuana industry attorney 
Jana Weltzin said.

"They don't need us anymore," Weltzin added.

"Believe me, I'm shocked," Milks said. "They had legal authority 
probably to do it, but (the Department of Law) is going to look at it 
really, really carefully," she said.

Leading into the vote, the discussion had focused on making sure 
there was adequate control and safety in the market, and the 
residency requirements allowed for that, Milks said. Now, with 
unchecked Outside investment allowed to come in, "there's no way to 
control any of it, so it's a big problem."

Board member Brandon Emmett said after the vote that after speaking 
with Weltzin, his attorney, he had concerns over the vote. Allowing 
for sole Outside investment wasn't their intent, he said.

"Next we see ... if that just opens the door to anyone and their 
cousin is true or now if we'll actually get the investment that we 
needed," Emmett said.

On-site consumption

With Tuesday's deadline approaching, the board had met in downtown 
Anchorage on Friday with hopes of ironing out remaining questions and 
concerns surrounding Alaska's marijuana regulations.

Aspects small and large - from licensing fees to retail store hours 
to packaging requirements -- have been considered by the board in 
crafting its 133 pages of regulations. Forty-two pages of amendments 
were posted on the board's website Friday morning.

Another big change Friday was allowing for marijuana retail licenses 
to have an area for on-site consumption of marijuana. An adult 
21-years or older would purchase marijuana and consume it in a 
designated area on the store's premises, similar to a bar.

Details on the on-site consumption were not figured out Friday; they 
will be defined at a later date, Alcoholic Beverage Control and 
Marijuana Control Board director Cynthia Franklin said.

The vote passed 3-2; the audience, a room composed mostly of 
marijuana industry advocates, clapped after the vote.

"Common sense finally prevailed on one issue," Weltzin said later.

Other changes made Friday:

The board voted to remove a cap on THC limits for marijuana 
concentrates. A prior draft version had capped THC at 76 percent, a 
calculation derived from the limit placed on spirits; board member 
Bruce Schulte argued that the cap was taking the idea of regulating 
marijuana like alcohol too literally.

Marijuana can be packaged in such a way as to allow consumers to see 
the product before they purchase it in a retail store, the board 
voted Friday. A previous version of the regulations had specified 
that marijuana must be packaged in opaque plastic.

A broker cultivation license was removed from proposed regulations. 
Under a previous draft version of the regulations, a license would 
have allowed for brokers to procure marijuana from small growers and 
then sell the marijuana to retailers. The license was seen as a way 
to help small black-market growers transition to the legal market, 
but the board decided that the broker did not fall under the auspices 
of a cultivation license.

The deadline for the state's regulations is Tuesday. The rules will 
go through a formal review by the Alaska Department of Law before 
heading to Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott's desk. There were no more plans 
for additional meetings before Tuesday.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom