A person may object to/comment on a new license, renewal of license, license conversion, transfer of a license to another person, or onsite consumption by submitting a written statement of reasons for the objection or comment to the board, the applicant, and the local government(s) with jurisdiction over the location, and to the Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office at 550 W 7th Ave, Suite 1600, Anchorage, AK 99501 or to marijuana.licensing@alaska.gov.
Interested persons may review completed applications posted to AMCO's website.

You may use our Marijuana License Search.

The board may determine to conduct a public hearing based upon objections. The board is not required by statute or regulation to hold a public hearing on each objection. If the board decides to hold a hearing, it may receive oral testimony at the hearing. The legal reasons why a board may deny a license application can be reviewed by reading 3 AAC 306.080.

You will initiate your application from our website on the page titled ”Marijuana License Application”. You will need to have a valid myAlaska account and an Alaska business license number in order to apply. Click the button titled “Initiate Marijuana Application” and follow the prompts. Make sure you’ve reviewed all of the resources available on the application page, as they will guide you and help you in initiating your application. Completing this online process will initiate your application, but you will still need to complete your operating plan and supplemental forms. The forms are available on the marijuana application page, organized by license type. Completed supplemental forms and pertinent documents may be emailed in PDF format to marijuana.licensing@alaska.gov.

Applicants for marijuana establishment licenses must list all persons with a direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the license. If the application is being submitted by an LLC or Corporation, the affiliate section of the application must contain all human persons who have any interest in the entity. If members of the LLC or shareholders of a corporation are themselves entities, they must be further reduced to human persons with a financial interest in the operation of a license. All persons must be listed.

This term is defined in regulation in 3 AAC 306.015(e)(1). Applicants should read and be familiar with the regulations before applying for a license.

The application requires the applicant to swear and certify that they have listed all persons with a financial interest in the license. Misrepresentation of material fact can lead to denial of a license or suspension or revocation of a license which is issued if it is later discovered that the certification was false or the listing of affiliates was incomplete.

The assigned examiner will check the entity ownership as listed in the Corporations, Professional and Business Licensing Database. If you have ownership of less than 5%, which is not listed on CPBL's filing page, you must update your ownership documentation with CPBL showing all ownership of your entity. You must submit a copy of your CPBL filing paperwork to AMCO as part of the application process. AMCO staff will be able to examine your updated filing document even though CPBL's filing page may not reflect less than 5% ownership.

All persons with a direct or indirect financial interest must be Alaska residents.

The regulation contained in 3 AAC 306.015(e)(2) requires that each person listed on the application meet the residency requirement under AS 43.23 for a permanent fund dividend in the calendar year in which that person applied for a marijuana establishment license. AMCO will coordinate with the Permanent Fund Division of the Department of Revenue to ascertain that persons on marijuana establishment license applications meet the residency requirement.

The regulation does not require that a person apply for the PFD. However, a person must meet the residency requirements under AS 43.23. Please follow this link to review the residency requirements for the PFD. Applying for a PFD requires a myAlaska account, which you must also have to apply for a marijuana establishment license. Applicants who do not apply for the PFD should expect a longer review time and to produce additional documentation.

If you are a current licensee and the question regarding residency is for the purpose of renewing your marijuana license, please review 3 AAC 306.035(h). An additional form will be required of you at renewal time.

The following requirements must be met to get your application to the Marijuana Control Board:

1. Notify the public of your intent to open a marijuana establishment at your proposed location by following the stipulations laid out in 3 AAC 306.025.
• Post a copy of your Public Notice (created for you based on the information you provide by the online licensing database) for 10 days at your proposed premises and at a conspicuous nearby location such as a post office or grocery store bulletin board.
• Send a copy of your Public Notice to your local government(s), and to your community council if the establishment will be in the Municipality of Anchorage or Mat-Su Borough..
• Place an advertisement (created for you by the online licensing database) notifying the public of your intent to open a marijuana establishment in a newspaper of general circulation in the area you intend to operate once per week for three consecutive weeks.
2. Complete all of the supplemental forms specific to your license type, including your Operating plan and various affidavits.
3. Submit fingerprint cards for each person listed on your application.
4. Submit payment, in person or by mail.
5. Complete any requirements or stipulations laid out by your local government(s).
6. After your application is deemed complete by the AMCO director per 3 AAC 306.025(d), it will be submitted to your local government(s) who will have up to 60 days to protest the application.
7. The complete application packet will then be posted on our website during the 30-day objection period described under 3 AAC 306.065.
8. Within 90 days after your application is deemed complete, it will be considered by the board at the next regularly scheduled MCB meeting.

You must obtain this from the newspaper that published your advertisement after your advertisement has run for the time frame you requested. The affidavit should include a copy of the advertisement.

Yes. Marijuana establishment licenses are premises based licenses and applicants must provide proof of possession to the premises location as part of the application process. This will require a valid deed or lease in the name of the proposed marijuana establishment.You should wait to apply until you know that the entity applying for the license will have right of possession to the premises.

No. The address listed in the advertisement must be for the proposed marijuana establishment. You may not run an ad for a different address and change the address later. You may not run an ad for an address where you have no intention of operating the premises. You should check with your local government to make sure you are not running an advertisement for a premises address that is not zoned for a licensed marijuana establishment.

Nothing in the marijuana regulations or statutes requires a specific NACS code to be used when you apply for your Alaska business license and AMCO cannot make any recommendations. Use whichever code you feel is most appropriate for your line of business.

Applicants must use an approved agency to get their fingerprints taken. For a list of approved agencies please visit Department of Public Safety's website. Fingerprints must have been taken within the last 12 months.

You then submit your fingerprint card when you submit your application packet and fees to us to our Anchorage office. Do not submit fingerprint cards by email, they are not accepted that way.

If you submit all of your supplemental forms, documents and fees for each of your applications within a 12 month period from one another, one fingerprint card and background fee will suffice. Otherwise, you must submit one fingerprint card and background fee per license application.

The application enters the queue when all supplemental forms, pertaining additional documents, and payment are received. When the examiner begins the review of the application, the examiner will check the documentation against the regulations, determine whether accurate and required public notices and advertisements were posted, check residency requirements, and determine if there are errors which need correction.

Check or money orders payable to the State of Alaska and/or AMCO are acceptable forms of payment. We do not accept credit cards for marijuana related applications at this time.

Applying for a new or transfer license is a long process, involving approval from the Marijuana Control Board, Local Government and other state agencies. Applicants should plan for a 4 to 6 month application process. AMCO Examiners have no authority to approve or expedite an application.

After taking an approved course, the person will bring or mail their course completion certificate, an AMCO cover page along with state-issued photo identification to the AMCO offices, pay their $50 fee and receive their marijuana handler card. More details regarding Marijuana Handler permit course providers and instructions can be found here.

Prospective course education providers may download the application form (Form MJ-10) and submit it along with their prospective curriculum anytime thereafter. The form can be found on the marijuana application page located here. Complete the form and return it with your entire curriculum by clicking the button at the bottom of the marijuana application page that says “Submit Supplemental Forms & Documents”. You may also submit the form and curriculum by mailing them or hand delivering them to our office, but you must get the form from the AMCO website.

The State of Alaska, AMCO has entered into a contract with Franwell to provide a marijuana inventory tracking solution. The contract was awarded in March of 2016 with deployment of the system in May of 2016.

Franwell provides marijuana inventory tracking solutions to both Colorado and Oregon and has been providing supply chain solutions since 1993.

METRC is a hosted, real-time system that uses serialized tags with barcode, human-readable and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags attached to every plant, and labels attached to wholesale packages to track marijuana inventory. Each tag is attached to a plant to facilitate tracking through different stages of growth, as well the drying and curing processes.

Yes. Visit Metrc’s website to find that information and more.

No. Licensees will only be able to access their own information through METRC. They will not be able see any information about any other licensee.

METRC will initially conduct live, in person training for the industry and will also offer webinar trainings three times per week, 50 weeks per year. They will provide written training manuals and will continue to conduct live training sessions in perpetuity, either in person or through webinar.

Franwell has a dedicated team of support staff who will be available to resolve any technical support issues. The support desk can be contacted via phone or email.

Yes. The list of applicants by status is contained in a spreadsheet on AMCO's website. The spreadsheet will be updated every other week. Applications may have moved to another status with the two weeks between updates of the information reflected in the spreadsheet.

Secure a location. All licenses are premises based, meaning that the first question to answer is where the licensed premises will be located. Applicants must demonstrate a right of possession to the property. You must submit a lease or rental agreement if you do not own the property.

Zoning is a local matter, other than the buffer zones set out in 3 AAC 306.010. The Marijuana Control Board will only issue licenses connected to a physical place where the license type is allowed by the local government. The Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office cannot advise any potential applicant if the address chosen is locally zoned in such a way that a commercial marijuana establishment would be permitted in that location; contact your local government.

The regulations in 3 AAC 306 provide for six types of marijuana establishment licenses:

• Retail Marijuana Store
• Standard Cultivation Facility
• Limited Cultivation Facility
• Marijuana Product Manufacturing Facility
• Marijuana Concentrate Manufacturing Facility
• Testing Facility

Yes, with one exception—testing facility licenses are independent of all other license types. According to 3 AAC 306.610, a licensed marijuana testing facility may not have any licensee, employee, or agent who holds any type of marijuana establishment license other than a testing facility license.

No. Delivering marijuana to consumers is not permitted under AS 17.38 or 3 AAC 306.

No. The term "dispensary" is used in other legalized marijuana states but does not appear in AS 17.38 or 3 AAC 306. Alaska will license retail marijuana stores.

The Marijuana Control Board is not limited in the number of marijuana licenses it can issue at the state level. However, AS 17.38.110(b) provides that local governments can restrict the time, place, manner and number of marijuana licenses. Check with your local government to see if there is a local limit on licenses.

There is no deadline to apply. The Marijuana Control Board will continue to accept applications year round and will address applications for licenses at its regularly scheduled meetings throughout the year.

By regulation 3 AAC 306.020, applications must be initiated electronically in order for applicants to demonstrate their capability to enter and submit data/documents electronically. You cannot participate in the commercial marijuana industry in Alaska at this time if you do not have internet access. All marijuana licensees are required to use the statewide marijuana inventory tracking system, which is electronic and requires a stable internet connection and basic computer literacy. The application is initiated electronically so applicants can demonstrate to the board that they have the technological resources to enter the industry at this time.

By regulation 3 AAC 306.020, applications must be initiated electronically in order for applicants to demonstrate their capability to enter and submit data/documents electronically. All marijuana licensees are required to use the statewide marijuana inventory tracking system, which is electronic and requires a stable internet connection and basic computer literacy. The application is initiated electronically so applicants can demonstrate to the board that they have the technological resources to enter the industry at this time.

It is very important to read and understand the regulations. For those who have questions after reading the regulations, the Frequently Asked Questions, reviewing the instructions and watching the training video, the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office will be setting hours for appointments and walk-ins with questions; the hours will be published on the AMCO website as they are scheduled.

AMCO has a small staff serving a large number of people involved in both the alcoholic beverage and marijuana industries. If it is apparent that you have not read the regulations when you meet with staff, you will lose your appointment until you have read the regulations.

Prepare to submit your application—

1) Read 3 AAC 306 articles 1, 7, 8, 9 and the specific article(s) that pertains to the type of license(s) you plan to apply for. When you apply for a license, you are stating that you have read and understand all of the marijuana regulations, and are prepared to follow them.

2) Work on your operating plan. All license types are required to submit an operating plan with their application. Requirements for the operating plan are set forth in 3 AAC 306.020(c). You can begin drafting your operating plan based on the information requirements outlined in the regulations. .

Because the board must approve or deny your application within 90 days from the date your application is deemed complete, you should not initiate your application until you are approximately 90 days from being ready to operate your premises. Remember that construction schedules are often optimistic. The applicant must ensure that their finished facility matches what is laid out in their operating plan. The premises will undergo a preliminary inspection before operations begin.

Because all licenses are premises based, applicants are required to secure a location before applying and must demonstrate a right of possession to the property. You do not have to own it but you must submit a lease or rental agreement if you do not own the property.

It’s expected that cultivators will either start their plants from seeds or from cuttings only after receiving a license from the Marijuana Control Board. The regulations require that all cuttings that are 8" tall and present on the licensed premises on the day of license issuance be entered into METRC, the marijuana inventory tracking system. After the initial inventory is established, the regulations allow for introducing a new strain after written approval by the director (form MJ-27).

The AMCO staff cannot answer hypothetical questions or give advice about how the board will respond to a specific operating plan. The application is structured in a way that requires an applicant to outline its operating plan and for the board to review the plan and ultimately grant or deny the license. AMCO staff is not authorized to tell any applicant that their plan is "good enough" to pass the board's review. All hypothetical questions will be referred to the pertinent regulations and the applicant must take on the responsibility of articulating its plan of meeting those regulations to the board.

Please visit the Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Environmental Health website for additional information regarding pesticides and cannabis.

Yes. AS 17.38.010 made the use of marijuana legal only for persons 21 years of age or older.

"In public" means in a place to which the public or a substantial group of persons has access and includes highways, transportation facilities, schools, places of amusement or business, parks, playgrounds, prisons, and hallways, lobbies, and other portions of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence. On November 20, 2015, the Marijuana Control Board amended the definition to exclude marijuana retail stores that have a consumption endorsement issued by the board.

AS 17.38.020 allows for the in-home production and possession of marijuana for personal use. AS 17.38.020 specifies it will be lawful; possessing, growing, processing, or transporting not more than six marijuana plants, with three or fewer being mature, flowering plants, and possession of the marijuana produced by the plants on the premises where the plants were grown, except that not more than 12 marijuana plants, with six or fewer being mature, flowering plants, may be present in a single dwelling regardless of the number of persons 21 years of age or older residing in the dwelling.

No, AS 17.38.020 specifies it will be lawful; "not more than 12 marijuana plants, with six or fewer being mature, flowering plants, may be present in a single dwelling regardless of the number of persons 21 years of age or older residing in the dwelling." The Marijuana Control Board has clarified through definitions that personal grows and assisting cannot be used to circumvent licensure requirements. See 3 AAC 306.990.

No.

Marijuana continues to be a controlled substance in Title 11 even after the effective date of AS 17.38. It is a crime under AS 28.35.030 to drive a motor vehicle while under the influence of any controlled substance, inhalant, alcoholic beverage, or any combination of those substances. It is a crime to drive a motor vehicle while impaired.

No. Nothing in AS 17.38 changed any privileges and prohibitions related to medical cards issued per AS 17.37

Yes. AS 17.38.120(d) states that a person, employer, school, hospital, recreation or youth center, correction facility, corporation or any other entity who occupies, owns or controls private property may prohibit or otherwise regulate the possession, consumption, use, display, transfer, distribution, sale, transportation or growing of marijuana on or in that property.

No. AS 17.38.020 only permits adults over the age of 21 to possess one ounce and grow 6 plants, with three being mature or flowering. The act permits adults to keep the harvest of their personal use plants on the premises where the plants were grown. You can also transport an ounce or less of marijuana and give an ounce or less to someone else. You cannot buy or sell your personal use marijuana and you cannot combine it with others to make what looks like a commercial grow operation.

Seeking investors for your business may involve state and federal securities laws. Before offering securities you should review state and federal securities laws and regulations and consult a professional who is knowledgeable about securities transactions. In almost all cases, prior to meeting certain securities law requirements, you may not advertise to find investors. This prohibition includes print and electronic media including your own website, Facebook, Twitter, and Craigslist.

Offering a security may involve legal and financial consequences that can result in civil liability and money damages to you if you don’t follow the law. Contact the Division of Banking and Securities at (907) 269-8140 or (888) 925-2521 or visit the Division of Banking & Securities for more information.

Yes. AS 17.38 and 3 AAC 306.200 provide that local governments as defined in AS 17.38.900 can opt out of commercial marijuana establishments by ordinance or petition election. Local government officials interested in the opt-out process should review Article 2 of the regulations.

AMCO has a spread sheet that indicates which communities have opted out. This spreadsheet was created and will be updated by the Division of Community and Regional Affairs monthly based on information gained by surveying local governments. AMCO cannot guarantee that the information on the spreadsheet is accurate because there is no statutory obligation for local governments to inform AMCO or the Marijuana Control Board when they opt out.

The DCRA spread sheet indicates which communities have adopted local control ordinances. It does not contain the ordinances themselves. You must check with the local government to access the ordinance. AMCO did not obtain the information in the spreadsheet and there is no legal requirement that local governments report it to us.

The Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office cannot advise any potential applicant if the address chosen is locally zoned in such a way that a commercial marijuana establishment would be permitted in that location. This is a question for your local government.

No. The 500 foot buffer zone is the inside limit for the proximity of a marijuana licensed establishment to a school, youth or recreation center, building where religious services are held, or correctional facility. Please read 3 AAC 306.010(a) to determine how to measure the distance. The 500 foot distance represents the State of Alaska's Drug Free School Zone.

The contract attorney, Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office staff, the Marijuana Control Board, the Department of Law, and the public created the final regulatory product together.

The Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office retained Virginia Rusch, a contract attorney who specializes in writing regulations and who worked for the Alaska Attorney General's Office in the Regulations Section for many years. Ms. Rusch and AMCO staff brought drafts of regulations to the Marijuana Control Board (MCB); prior to the MCB members being seated on July 2, 2015, draft regulations were brought to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board as outlined in 17.38.080. The board put sections of regulations out for public comment, reviewed the public comment received, and made many changes to the regulations during 14 separate board meetings in 2015. Once the board adopted the regulations, the Department of Law reviewed the regulations and recommended technical changes. Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallot signed the regulations on January 22, 2016 with an effective date of February 21, 2016.

A home rule municipality is included in the definition of local government. Local governments have a right of protest under the regulations. Local governments can tax marijuana or charge fees for municipal licenses or permits.

A person 21 years of age or older may possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use

No, there is no limit on the amount of product that can be legally transferred between licensed marijuana businesses.

Any commercial marijuana product that is being transported in accordance with regulations is required to be physically accompanied by an individual with a valid marijuana handler’s permit. That individual is responsible for securing the package during transport and that cannot be accomplished if it leaves their possession.

During transport, the marijuana or marijuana product must be in a sealed package or container and in a locked, safe, and secure storage compartment in the vehicle transporting the marijuana or marijuana product. The sealed package may not be opened during transport. 3AAC306.750

Enforcement email amco.enforcement@alaska.gov .