Residency Rules Change for #Marijuana Businesses

The board that drafts the rules for the recreational marijuana industry in Alaska saw a fallback on Tuesday when they brought on tighter residency needs for those who apply for marijuana business licenses. The Marijuana Control Board rushd a rule that they took in during November that would use the same residency needs to vote in Alaska “in favor of using the more stringent standards needed to qualify for the yearly check from Alaska’s oil wealth fund.”

The board agreed to using the residency requirements for the Permanent Fund Dividend on Tuesday in a meeting in Anchorage. Some of those requirements include being a resident of Alaska for a full 365 days. The other states that have legalized recreational marijuana, Colorado, Washington and Oregon, also have residency requirements. For instance, Washington requires six months and other states require up to two years. In these states, those requirements apply to business applicants as well as investors. In Oregon, most ownership “must rest with Oregon residents.” Outside investment is permitted, but non-resident owners are not directly allowed to be in a business’s operation according to the rules at the moment.

Alaska voters a year ago allowed recreational marijuana for adults 21 or older. It is still illegal to buy and sell marijuana because no businesses have been licensed. The board is to start accepting applications later on in February. Then, the first industry licenses are going to be awarded in May. On Tuesday, Brandon Emmett, a member of the board, suggested that out-of-state investments should be limited. However, the assistant attorney general serving as counsel to the board, Dinegar Milks, stated that this was outside of the agenda of the meeting and could not be considered at this point. In the past, the board has rejected similar proposals.