Marijuana board accepts draft to ban cannabis clubs

  • By DJ SUMMERS
  • Thursday, September 24, 2015 8:55pm
  • News

The Alaska Marijuana Control Board accepted draft regulatory language on Sept. 24 that would ban cannabis social clubs, unable to establish any regulations around a license type that was not specified in the ballot initiative that legalized cannabis. The existence of cannabis social clubs will now depend on the Alaska Legisature to establish the license type, informed by a planned policy statement from the board.

Marijuana clubs, which do not sell cannabis but allow cannabis users to consume and share on premises, have been a legal gray area in Alaska. Use and possession of cannabis is legal, but business licenses for sale and cultivation will not be issued until May 2016. Because cannabis clubs do not sell, they do not fall under regulatory authority, which either prevents the board from allowing them or from prohibiting them, depending on who you ask.

In July, Anchorage cannabis social club Pot Luck Events received a cease and desist letter from board director Cynthia Franklin, along with Alaska Cannabis Club, Northern Heights, and Green Rush Events. Franklin’s cease and desist letter carried less than bulletproof legal weight because of the nebulous legal status of marijuana clubs, and Pot Luck Events has continued operation.

Pot Luck manager Theresa Collins said the club will continue to operate until Nov. 24, when the Legislature must adopt, reject, or alter the recommended regulations the board has written.

The state’s legal department argued that the board has no authority at all the regulate cannabis clubs, as there is no license for them in the first place.

The Alaska Department of Law had advised the board that it does not have the authority to create new licenses or even to craft regulations around nonexistence license types. The ballot initiative only specified four license types: cultivation, manufacturing, retail, and testing. According assistant attorney General Harriet Milks, said the Legislature must create the license type in statute before the board can regulate it.

“The Department of Law has already decided the board doesn’t have the authority,” said Milks. “It’s not your problem to fix. The Legislature has to take the initial steps.”

Collins said she doesn’t buy the argument.

“If they don’t have the authority to approve them, then how do they have the authority to prohibit them?” Collins said.

The board has already made it apparent that it needs legislative action before ruling one way or another on marijuana clubs.

“We’re pretty well on record saying we need some legislative guidance on this,” said board member Mark Springer. “We need to not dance around it, but right now, say that they’re not a license, knowing there may be some action by the Legislature to authorize the board to authorize marijuana clubs.”

Board member Brandon Emmett, vice president of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, disagreed with the Department of Law’s ruling, arguing the board was able to create a brokerage license despite not appearing in the ballot.

Some of the public agreed with Emmett.

“I don’t see how you can prohibit and not create,” said Lee Haywood, a local cannabis business consultant for Pot Luck Events.

“Broker licenses are a subset of a cultivator license,” responded Milks to Emmett. “Marijuana club is a completely different animal. It is a circumstance of using, selling, distributing marijuana that is not authorized by the Legislature at this time.”

Emmett voiced fears that the Legislature would not have the time or attention to even take up the matter during session.

“If we look at the last session, very little got put out on the marijuana issue besides the bill that created this board,” said Emmett, “and this might be something that slips through the cracks. I don’t see it a far stretch to create a marijuana club provision.”

Emmett also voiced concerns that a ban would be too strong, and misinform the Legislature that the board doesn’t support their existence.

“If we accept this, it will send a message to the Legislature that we’ve already made our minds about how we feel,” said Emmett. “If you look at the public comment, this has been arguably the most popular and controversial section in some time.”

Board chairman Bruce Schulte highlighted the fact that several municipalities have drafted letters of support for marijuana clubs, and lamented the fact that the board has no authority to remedy a “chicken and the egg situation.”

Schulte said the board will attempt to craft policy statements expressing the board’s support of marijuana clubs’ existence, in an attempt to inform legislators of the public and board support for such businesses.

“The best way I think advocates and supporters to make it happen is to give legislators every reason to embrace them,” said Schulte. “Ballot 2 passed, but only by a small margin. Legislators are paying close attention to that 47 percent who didn’t support it.”

DJ Summers can be reached at daniel.summers@alaskajournal.com.

More in News

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

The bipartisan bill included $680 increase to per-student funding

The Sterling Highway crosses the Kenai River near the Russian River Campground on March 15, 2020, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Russian River Campground closed for construction

The campground is expected to reopen on June 2

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Fish and Game announces series of closures and restrictions for king salmon fisheries

Cook Inlet king salmon stocks are experiencing a prolonged period of poor productivity, the department said

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

The Nikiski Senior Center stands under sunlight in Nikiski, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Support available for community caregivers

Nikiski Senior Center hosts relaunched Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Ben Meyer and Brandon Drzazgowski present to the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum gives update on streambank restoration

The watershed forum and other organizations are working to repair habitat and mitigate erosion

The entrance to the Kenai Police Department, as seen in Kenai, Alaska, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai resident arrested on charges of arson

Kenai Police and Kenai Fire Department responded to a structure fire near Mountain View Elementary

Most Read