KODIAK, Alaska (AP) — A marijuana ban has been lifted for Alaska’s southern Kodiak region but remains in place within the city limits of the region’s main municipality.
The ban was lifted last Thursday in a 4-2 vote by the Kodiak Borough Assembly, the Kodiak Daily Mirror reported .
It was not immediately clear how soon people who have applied for state licenses to open marijuana retail outlets will be able to open those businesses.
The new measure will tax marijuana sales at $10 per ounce or 20 percent of the state’s excise tax, whichever is greater. Marijuana business owners will not be allowed to grow their crops on properties smaller than 20,000 square feet (1,858 square meters).
Kodiak resident Shelley Paulson said she hoped borough assembly members would address where outlets that sell marijuana are located to “keep it out of residential areas.”
“That’s our sanctuary,” she said.
Assembly member Dennis Symmons, who voted against lifting the ban, said commercial marijuana should be regulated at the state level.
Alaska voters in 2014 legalized commercial marijuana statewide.
credit:dailyprogress.com