By Jana Weltzin |Marijuana Venture Magazine
As of early August, the regulatory work for Alaska’s recreational commercial marijuana market remains in flux.
The Marijuana Control Board (MCB) was finally seated July 2. Prior to the MCB members officially being seated, the Alcohol Beverage Control Board (ABC) and director Cynthia Franklin were tasked with the chore of starting the regulatory drafting process to ensure the regulatory timeframes and deadlines were met according to the voter initiative. The timeline released by Franklin laid out the manner in which the regulations and rules would be presented to the public. The nitty gritty of the release and comments from Franklin at both the July 2 MCB meeting and the Aug. 3 work session indicated that the regulations would be drafted by a contract regulatory attorney, whose experience in regulatory drafting is great but her experience in cannabis leaves something to be desired.
Further, the proposed regulations are to be issued to the public in three packets. As of early July, the state’s contract regulation drafter had produced two of the three packets of regulations, the second of which was released to the public on July 2. Needless to say, the cannabis industry community was (and still is) concerned that the bulk of regulations being drafted and submitted to the public came with no input from the MCB members appointed by Gov. Bill Walker.
