Alaska News

Troopers say 2 Nome residents may be charged with having too many cannabis plants

Two Nome residents may face criminal charges after police searched their home Thursday and found 21 mature cannabis plants and six immature cannabis plants, among other items, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers identified the homeowners as Anthony Shelp, 53, and Esther Olanna, 34. The Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team executed a search warrant at the home of Shelp and Olanna in a Nome subdivision. The home was a "suspected marijuana grow," troopers said in an online dispatch.

Along with the 21 mature and six immature cannabis plants, the team found one pound of " 'bud' marijuana," lights, timers and chemicals used to grow the plants, troopers said. Troopers said that the 21 cannabis plants yielded a dry weight of about 2.3 pounds.

Under Alaska law, each household can legally have six cannabis plants, three of which may be flowering at a time. Adults can have up to an ounce of marijuana.

Shelp and Olanna were on conditions of release to not be in possession of controlled substances at the time of the search, troopers said. Charges of misconduct involving a controlled substance and violating conditions of release against the two will be forwarded to the Nome District Attorney's Office, troopers said.

A ballot initiative approved by Alaska voters in 2014 allows anyone 21 or over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana outside their home. A person can possess four ounces in the home through legal precedent.

The ballot initiative also allows for each household to have six plants, three of which may be flowering at a time, and for the possession of the marijuana produced by those plants. However, a contradiction exists between the ballot measure and legal precedent when it comes to the number of plants legally allowed in a home.

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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