Upper Valley's First Cannabis Retailer Nears Final State Hurdle

This week, the Marijuana Control Board will hear testimony and deliberate on the state license application for a marijuana retail store in Downtown Talkeetna. The owners are optimistic about the hearing, despite some organized opposition. KTNA’s Phillip Manning has more:

Last February, Joe McAneney addressed the Talkeetna Community Council and told them that he plans to open a marijuana store on Main Street. This week, the state’s Marijuana Control Board will decide whether or not his plans come to fruition.

McAneney and his business partners are optimistic that the board will approve their application, and that the store, The High Expedition, will open its doors soon.

Being allowed to open and having a full product line are two different things, however. Joe McAneney acknowledges that the supply chain for cannabis products is still in its early stages, which means getting stocked could take some time.

“I expect by mid-summer we’ll actually be up and running with the actual producers that we want to have in there, some more local people. Yeah, it’s going to be interesting. When we open it might just be t-shirts and sweatshirts and maybe one or two selections of actual cannabis products. My goal is not to just open up and throw whatever we can in there just to say we’re selling cannabis products.”

Eventually, Joe McAneney hopes to be able to have a more self-contained supply chain through cultivation and processing facilities in the area.

“We already have design drawings and plans to build a 5,000 square foot cultivation facility in the area, which would be nice. It should create anywhere from ten to fifteen full time jobs in Talkeetna. We also have other plans. We’re opening up a product manufacturing facility in Talkeetna to be making our own medicinal oils and edibles, things like that.”

If The High Expedition receives its license, its owners will have to navigate what is routine for most people, but complicated for those in the marijuana business, banking. Since marijuana is federally illegal, many banks will not deal with money associated with it, even if it has been legalized at the state level.

Another potential complication at the federal level comes with the transition from President Obama to President Trump. The Obama administration took a mostly hands-off approach when it came to states that had legalized marijuana. Joe McAneney says the Trump administration may not go after legal cannabis, even with vocally anti-marijuana Attorney General Jeff Sessions in office.

“I think [Jeff Sessions] is tied up and busy enough now with other allegations that they’re not really going to have time to prosecute this industry. If you look at people like [Alaska Department of Law spokesman] Corey Mills, the Alaska AG, and the Washington state AG, they immediately came out with statements saying, “Our state legalized this. It’s an industry that’s creating tax revenue. We will not be bullied by the federal government. We’re going to uphold our voter initiatives and continue this industry.”

Even if nothing changes with regard to banking regulations, McAneney says private banks have already started to pop up in Colorado and Washington to serve the marijuana industry, and he believes the same could happen in Alaska.

All of these plans going forward are contingent on the Marijuana Control Board’s approval of The High Expedition’s license. While groups such as the Talkeetna Chamber of Commerce and the Talkeetna Community Council have not filed objections to the application, many private citizens have. The concerns outlined in letters sent to the Marijuana Control Board focus largely on the store’s proposed location at the north end of Main Street. They object to the store’s proximity to a borough-owned campground, the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station, and other Downtown attractions, including the Susitna River.

In response, Joe McAneney says he plans for The High Expedition to be an unobtrusive addition to Downtown, without overt references to marijuana on the outside of the building.

“You’ll see that our business will be kind of abnormal when it comes to our presentation. I think that’s going to be a really important thing, to blend into the community and not be obtrusive, and actually add some really nice flair. It’s going to be new, and it’s going to be exciting. It’s not going to be obtrusive or in-your-face whatsoever.”

Others objecting to the store’s license, including at least two staff members at the Sunshine Community Health Center, say in their letters that marijuana is harmful. Joe McAneney believes those objections are based on outdated thinking, and that cannabis consumed responsibly is safe.

The meeting of the Marijuana Control Board is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. The High Expedition is among more than thirty-five marijuana license applications to be considered.