Alaska’s first pot shop opens to a long line of customers
KTUU-TV VIA AP
This undated image provided by KTUU-TV shows the exterior of the Arctic Herbery, the first recreational marijuana shop in Anchorage, Alaska. The shop is giving away free samples before starting operations under an official license. KTUU-TV reports marijuana retailers will be stocking shelves in the next weeks with the first batches of marijuana that have been inspected for consumer safety.
Anchorage, Alaska » Alaska’s first marijuana retail outlet opened to a throng of customers, two years after voters approved allowing people 21 and older to recreationally use pot.
More than 250 people lined up Saturday outside Herbal Outfitters in Valdez, store owner Richard Ballow said. Customers came from as far away as Anchorage and Fairbanks, more than 350 miles to the north.
The opening Saturday at “high noon” marks the first time it’s legal to buy pot under a voter initiative approved in November 2014. Voter approval made it legal under state law to possess up to an ounce of marijuana outside of a home.
“It’s a historic moment,” Ballow said. “I feel like I am blessed and honored to be a part of this.”
The state’s first testing lab, CannTest, opened in Anchorage Monday after clearing regulatory hurdles. It will test cannabis flowers, edibles and concentrates.
Herbal Outfitters’ general manager, Derek Morris, said the store will initially carry only dried cannabis flowers. He said manufacturers of edibles and concentrates are still in various stages of the permitting process.
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In Fairbanks, two marijuana retail stores are planning to open next week after final inspections are completed, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. A third Fairbanks store plans to open in about one month.
10 responses to “Alaska’s first pot shop opens to a long line of customers”
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Welcome to the future. The alcohol and pharma industries are quaking in their boots. The record of safety and efficacy of cannabis is a real threat to the death and destruction of their products.
The decline of America is getting steeper. Subhumania in the making.
In the meantime Hawaii has a hard time trying to open medical dispensaries because they want to reinvent the wheel.
They don’t want to re-invent. They wouldn’t know how. It’s been all about how they can dip their beaks as long and hard as possible.
Let this be a lesson and just legalize marijuana. What a waste to outlaw a plant made by God on the third day of creation. Go Alaska.
Foolboots, legalize God-made Opium-poppy also. To you the decline of Humankind cannot go fast enough.
Well not everyone needs government to tell them what they can and cannot do. Sorry you need such help Allaha. Perhaps someday you will learn some independence.
Spoken by a true doper.
Spoken by someone addicted to Peanuts. lol
Just in time for the Alaskan winter – enjoy!