Alaska marijuana sales close, pending opening of test labs

Alaska is nearing its first legal sales ofmarijuana, nearly two years after voters approved the recreationaluse of pot by adults.

Retails stores are being permitted by the state Marijuana ControlBoard, and just a few hurdles remain until commercial sales begin.

The biggest obstacle is waiting for labs to test the raw product.Two labs have been licensed by the state, both in Anchorage.

One of those, CannTest, should be open by mid- to late October,said co-owner Mark Malagodi. The facility is awaiting finalinspection from the municipality and state and final approval froman accrediting lab.

"If we're going to start testing by definitely the beginning ofNovember, I think it rolls in pretty well with everything else," hesaid.

An opening like the Krispy Kreme

Arctic Herbery received the first-ever marijuana retail storelicense from the city of Anchorage on Tuesday evening.

There was no public opposition to the license, even though thecity had initially raised concerns that the business only has fiveparking spots.

"It was shocking to me," owner Bryant Thorp said of the quickapproval, adding he didn't know why the process was so smooth.

"Maybe people have come to terms that I'm not such a bad guy."

He plans to open his store around Nov. 1, and he anticipates ahuge opening akin to when national chains open in Alaska's largestcity, and lines of customers snake around the business for days.

"When Krispy Kreme opened, Cabela's or Kmart back in the day,people freak out, they go nuts," he said.

The first retail license conditionally approved by the state wasfor Nick and Destiny Neade of Fairbanks for their Frozen Budz store.

Destiny Neade said Wednesday they are awaiting a final inspectionnext week from city officials.

"That will finalize our retail license, but like everybody,we're just waiting on the testing labs," she said.

Once the labs open, she anticipates beginning sales about a weeklater. The testing process takes about 72 hours, and then themarijuana will have to be driven from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

Skagway store ready to open

The first store to complete all its paperwork and is ready toopen is The Remedy Shoppe in the southeast Alaska tourist town ofSkagway.

But like everyone else across the state, owner Tara Bass has towait for marijuana to be cleared by a testing lab.

"Right now, the plan is to go spend some time with family untilthere's things available. All the work is done until the productarrives, right?" she told the Juneau Empire.

Besides Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington state and theDistrict of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana. Votersin five states -- Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts andNevada -- will consider making recreational pot legal in November.

North Pole to stay straight

During local elections on Tuesday, voters in theMatanuska-Susitna Borough north of Anchorage approved allowing for
the sale of marijuana in unincorporated areas, but one city inanother part of the state put the brakes on sales. Voters in NorthPole rejected pot sales in the Christmas-themed community wherelight poles are decorated year-round like candy canes. North Pole isabout 24kilometres southeast of Fairbanks.

Tim Hinterberger was one of the sponsors of the initiative tolegalize marijuana, and is now a co-owner of the other Anchorage labthat is waiting to open.

"It's pretty exciting for me personally to see this progress. Iknow people are eager to get the things going and frustrated they'renot happening faster, but from my point of view, we're making greatstrides over the many years I've been involved with this," he said.

"Things are finally happening."

He says AK Green Labs is about a week behind CannTest in the raceto open.

"I'm sure people will be patient, and things will fall in placereal soon," he said.

For Destiny Neade, she's not going to wait until she is totallystocked with edibles and concentrates and will open with justmarijuana on the shelves.

"We're just trying to get weed to the people," she said.