Pause on Alaskan pot shops
Many owners hope to seek approval for lounges that allow on-site consumption of marijuana products
Juneau: Regulators amid much fanfare in early 2020 approved two cannabis lounges in Alaska, making it one of the few States where customers would be allowed to use marijuana at retail pot shops.
Then the pandemic hit. One of the sites opened briefly in Ketchikan in October, near the start of a Statewide Covid-19 surge that an owner said forced it to hit pause. The other, in Fairbanks, hopes to open later this year.
Records show aa small number of other shop owners have filed paperwork signaling plans to seek approval for consumption hangouts — where customers can smoke marijuana or eat or drink marijuana products — though the virus has caused some of them to delay their efforts too.
One is Joe McAneney, who owns The High Expedition Co. in the tourist town of Talkeetna. McAneney said he recently considered pursuing an interim plan, such as refurbishing old buses in which private parties could gather to partake for set blocks of time, but thought better of it.
“To start a new business and to spend money and create … a new thing during this time, to me, it’s not very responsible; it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” he said. He and other business owners say they have been able to weather the pandemic, even with last year’s crash in tourist numbers. Marijuana businesses were allowed to stay open, and he said he was pleased by the level of support from Alaskans and independent travellers. The business also has found ways to run more efficiently, such as with online ordering, he said.
A major consideration for Alaska’s Marijuana Control Board in establishing rules for on-site use, for example, was giving tourists a place to smoke or consume edibles.