People interested in getting the greenlight to start marijuana businesses in Alaska are more focused on cultivation than retail.
About two-thirds of the applications submitted to the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Board are for cultivation, according to The Alaska Journal of Commerce.
Of 175 licenses, 40 are for limited cultivation with production limits of 500 square feet at most, 77 for standard cultivation with no limits, 43 are for retail licenses and six are for product manufacturing, which includes creating edibles. Only three applications are for testing facilities, which products must pass through to be legally sold.
The control board began accepting license applications Feb. 24 but only released them to the public on March 14.
Many of the applications colocate cultivation facilities and dispensaries, listing the same potential address.
Most of the licenses are for the Anchorage area, with 21 applications for retail stores, 22 for cultivation operations and two for testing facilities. Of Anchorage's 46 licenses, 18 are located at the same address, suggesting a brewpub-style marijuana shop.
In Fairbanks, 12 businesses have applied for cultivation licenses and only five have applied for retail outlets.
Though applications are pouring in, not every borough is prepared for the growing industry. A number of applications came from unincorporated parts of the Mat-Su Borough, where voters will decide in October whether to ban commercial marijuana activity.
Wasilla and Palmer have both passed bans on commercial cannabis activity, but a number of licenses have been filed for addresses in each area. In Wasilla, testing facilities are still allowed.?
Distributed by the Associated Press