Anchorage marijuana shops put on their version of a 4/20 Black Friday sale

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Budtender Jerriann Kruger weighs a gram of Tirich Mir for a customer at Cannabaska on Friday, April 20, 2018. Tirich Mir is an indica strain of marijuana with a high THC content of nearly 24%. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

This year's 4/20 holiday happened to fall on a Friday, and marijuana retailers across Alaska took the opportunity to create their own version of a Black Friday sale. Anchorage retailer Cannabaska advertised prices over half off their normal rates, pushing the price of some items below what they are on the black market, and customers lined up early to take advantage of the sale.

Wes Bascom was first in a 25-person line outside Cannabaska at 8 a.m., and said he'd been there for over five hours. He left with a $150 ounce of Durban Walker, a strain that normally retails for $380.

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Beryl Dell tried to purchase three 1/8th-ounce packets, but Green Bits, Cannabaska's point-of-sale system, was crashing throughout the morning. Budtender Jerriann Kruger speculated that the popular software was having trouble keeping up with the demand nationwide during the 4/20 holiday.

Even with the cash register hiccups, sales were strong, according to manager Angelica Horton. "We made the same amount of money we would normally make in three hours in the first 30 minutes we were open today," she said.