The average price for a pound of cannabis flower fell 8.1 percent nationally in 2023 to around $995, but cultivators in Alaska, Ohio, and Missouri still enjoy the hefty wholesale prices from a largely bygone era. According to a new report from Leaflink, Alaska leads the country with an average wholesale flower price of $2,374.74 per pound, followed by Ohio at $2,282.70 and Missouri at $2,065.88. It’s worth noting the report presents Ohio’s pricing data in grams to align with how… Read more.
Alaska lawmakers have filed a pair of bills to create a state task force responsible for studying and making recommendations on psychedelic policy issues, including frameworks for legalization and licensure for therapeutic practitioners. Sen. Forrest Dunbar (D) and Rep. Jennie Armstrong (D) introduced identical companion versions of the legislation on Monday. The bills would establish an Alaska Mental Health and Psychedelic Medicine Task Force under the state Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. The body would be comprised of… Read more.
A group of Alaska hemp growers and manufacturers has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging its new hemp regulations, arguing that they are unconstitutional and contrary to federal law. The new rules, which were approved in October and went into effect last week, are designed to regulate intoxicating hemp products. The lawsuit brought by plaintiffs including the Alaska Industrial Hemp Association and four businesses, was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, naming the Alaska Department of Natural… Read more.
An Alaska Airlines technician in Washington State who was fired over a positive marijuana test had his termination reversed earlier this month after formally challenging the decision, insisting he did not knowingly use cannabis and was unaware of how THC would have gotten into his system. The worker, whose name was redacted from an arbitration decision provided by a lawyer for his union, was given a random drug test in July, 2022. The level of THC metabolites came back above… Read more.
Certain hemp-derived products in Alaska will now be regulated by the state’s marijuana regulatory agency under new rules passed by lawmakers. The change doesn’t affect all hemp products, only derivatives containing intoxicating delta-8 or delta-9 THC as well as some “so-called ‘full-spectrum’ hemp products intended to help with epilepsy and pain,” according to the Anchorage Daily News. Some of those “full-spectrum” products include cannabinoids that are limited by Alaska’s industrial hemp program. Under the new regulations, such products must be approved by… Read more.
City officials in Anchorage, Alaska are considering exempting some city employees from penalties for cannabis use, Must Read Alaska reports. Instead of termination, employees who test positive for cannabis will be offered counseling and addiction treatment. According to the proposed ordinance text, the purpose of the ordinance “is to repeal and replace the Municipality of Anchorage’s drug testing policy, specifically shifting from a punitive policy to a health-centered approach.” “It also substantially changes the policy regarding the testing of marijuana for municipal employees. With… Read more.
Alaska regulators significantly loosened key restrictions that could lead many cannabis businesses to greater profitability simply by letting them advertise in many common venues and offer free samples to customers through legal dispensaries. According to the Alaska Beacon, the state’s Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom signed the new rules into law on Sept. 8, and they’ll kick in on Oct. 8, at which point cannabis brands will be allowed to post ads anywhere that isn’t specifically prohibited by local ordinances or state laws.… Read more.
Alaska lawmakers are considering a proposal to lower the state tax on cannabis from a per-ounce tax to a sales tax, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Under the state law, enacted in 2014, cannabis is taxed at $50 an ounce. In fiscal year 2021, the state collected more than $30 million from cannabis taxes, the report says. However, according to a 2022 report from the Tax Policy Center of the Brookings Institution, when local taxes are included, Alaska taxes cannabis more than other states. In fiscal… Read more.
The indictment notes that the couple had little possibility of obtaining necessary permits. A married couple from a small town in the far interior of Alaska has been charged with wire fraud in connection with a sham marijuana tourism business that they never intended to launch, federal prosecutors said in a recently unsealed indictment. The pair allegedly bilked 22 investors out of $722,000. Brian and Candy Corty from Delta Junction, Alaska, were indicted by a federal grand jury in April, the Anchorage… Read more.
On May 1, the Alaska Court System will remove the marijuana possession convictions of about 750 Alaskans from Courtview, the state’s online database of court cases. The Alaska Supreme Court announced the move in an order signed January 31 by the court’s five justices. The action, first publicized Sunday by The Alaska Landmine, follows years of similar, unsuccessful, legislative efforts to join a nationwide trend. “I’m glad that the Supreme Court has ordered this,” said Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks. The records will still be… Read more.