Invited guests wait in line outside of Rainforest Farms Second Street store to buy the first legal marijuana in Juneau on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016. The store is open to the public today.

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Even the mayor was there.

On Wednesday night, Rainforest Farms made the first legal sale of marijuana in Juneau and the first in Alaska off the state’s road system. The sale took place at an invite-only opening for Juneau’s first retail marijuana shop, but when more than 50 smiling people walked through the doors starting at 5:30 p.m., it felt more like a grand opening than a test run.

The first public marijuana sales in Juneau will take place today, when the store on Second Street opens to everyone over age 21.

Tera Ollila arrived at the store Wednesday night to support her daughter, who just started work at Rainforest Farms, but when she bought 1 gram of marijuana for $21, it was the store’s first sale to someone other than a store employee or this reporter.

“I was just curious,” she said of her thoughts when she stepped into line and now, into local history.

Marijuana might be legal in Alaska — it’s been permitted in private homes for almost 40 years under an Alaska Supreme Court decision — but Ollila was reluctant to be named because she works for the state and wasn’t sure if it was allowed.

Shawn Calhoon, another state employee, triumphally declared, “I got some marijuana, man!” after exiting the store’s front door but admitted some trepidation about how his purchase might be seen by others.

In the crowd within the store was Juneau Assemblyman Jesse Kiehl, who works as an aide to Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau. As far as he knows, there’s no rule prohibiting most state employees from buying marijuana legally. Ferry system employees and snowplow drivers are tested for marijuana, but ordinary workers aren’t.

After his explanation, Kiehl walked over to the other side of the shop to shake hands with Rainforest Farms co-owner Giono Barrett, and the two men posed for pictures.

Kiehl was following in the steps of Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch, who had done the same just minutes before. Koelsch said he wanted to be at the store on opening night to welcome a new business to the community.

He said he wasn’t planning on buying anything.

“I haven’t tried it yet,” he said.

Wednesday night marked the culmination of a two-year process for Giono and James Barrett, the principal figures behind Rainforest Farms, which includes a marijuana farm as well as the retail store. A commercial kitchen for marijuana edibles is in the works.

Minutes before the doors opened, the Barretts were still pricing products and hanging items on the walls.

“We’ve got to make sure we follow the laws,” James said as he pounded a nail into the wall so he could hang a state-mandated warning sign.

Two years ago, the Barretts were practically a two-person operation. Now, they have 16 employees. Among them is manager Andrea Lim, who moved to Juneau two months ago.

Lim is from Singapore and attended Reed College, where she wrote an undergraduate dissertation about the marijuana legalization process in Alaska.

During her research, she met and interviewed Giono Barrett. When she finished her studies, he offered her a job.

Through the first half-hour after the doors opened, the line moved steadily and happily as customers exchanged cash for sealed white paper bags containing sealed plastic bags of marijuana.

Thanks to federal banking restrictions, the marijuana industry operates on a cash-only basis. On opening night, 1 gram sold for $20, an eighth of an ounce for $60 and a quarter-ounce for $110, and individual purchasers commonly put down hundreds of dollars apiece.

Rainforest Farms is the first marijuana retailer to open in Juneau, but it won’t be the last. A second store is expected to open on Front Street in early 2017, and a third store is in the permitting process for Mill Street in the Rock Dump district.

Five more stores are in the planning process. </s> Adult recreational users of weed will be able to use it legally in another state.

Michigan voters made their state the first in the Midwest to legalize recreational marijuana by passing a ballot measure that will allow people 21 or older to buy and use the drug.

According to preliminary results, more than 54% of voters in Michigan said yes to the initiative that imposes a 10-ounce limit for Michigan residents, creates a state licensing system, will allow for retail sales subject to a 10% tax and changes several current weed-related violations to civil infractions.

A similar measure was defeated in North Dakota, meaning there are now 10 states that allow recreational use of pot — Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington — plus the District of Columbia. </s> The governor of Guam has signed into law a bill that legalizes the recreational use of marijuana on the U.S. island territory.

The Pacific Daily News reports Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed the bill Thursday — a week after the Guam Legislature narrowly passed the legislation that allows people, age 21 and older, to possess up to an 1 ounce (28 grams).

The law also allows adults to grow up to six plants for personal use.

People won't be able to legally purchase marijuana until regulations are developed by the new Cannabis Control Board and approved by the Legislature.

The board has up to year to form the rules. The law tasks the nine-member board with overseeing cannabis testing, manufacturing and licensing. </s> California has begun its first historic legal sales of recreational marijuana, inaugurating a milestone move with projections pointing to a turnover of at least $7 billion a year

San Francisco: California has begun its first historic legal sales of recreational marijuana, inaugurating a milestone move with projections pointing to a turnover of at least $7 billion a year. Lines formed outside stores licensed to sell the drug long before opening hours on Monday and store owners said they had stocked up in expectation of huge demand, reports CNN.

"It is probably our busiest day in our seven-year history," said Matt Lucerno, the owner of Buddy's, a dispenser of medical-use marijuana in San Jose that holds the first license issued by California to also sell recreational marijuana.

"We have folks outside; every chair in the building is filled right now."

At Harborside dispensary in Oakland, hundreds lined up to be the first to buy the legal weed.

Speaking to CNN, Lucerno said he expected a 30 percent bump in sales overnight, but "it looks, in looking around this room, more like 50 to 60 percent".

California is the sixth US state to allow sales of recreational marijuana, and as the nation's most populous state, it is widely seen as a tremendous boost to mainstreaming marijuana.

"Cannabis is now legal in the most populous state in the country," New Frontier Data, which tracks the cannabis industry, wrote in its 2017 annual report, "dramatically increasing the total potential size of the industry while establishing legal adult use markets across the entire US Pacific Coast given the legalised states of Washington and Oregon".

The California industry is forecast to reach $7 billion in a few years, more than the $6.6 billion of the entire legal cannabis market in the US in 2016, according to New Frontier Data.

California adults aged 21 and older can possess as much as an ounce and grow up to six plants at home, CNN reported.

Massachusetts will begin selling retail marijuana on July 1. Maine has approved it, but there is no set date to begin sales.

Other states that allow the sale of recreational marijuana are Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada.

More retail shops are certain to open soon in California.

The Bureau of Cannabis Control, which issues licenses from the state, had handed out about 200 by the end of last week, spokesman Alex Traverso said.

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The content/reporting displayed on our website www.mid-day.com is provided "AS-IS," "AS AVAILABLE, by us from third party, agencies, sources, without any verification from our side. It may contain error, bugs and other limitations. The reader's can rely on the content at their own will. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, data, text, images, video, messages, or any other material whatsoever or for any claims/loss/action that the reader may suffer as a result of relying on the content on our site. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever. </s> The governor of Guam has signed into law recreational use of marijuana on the U.S. island territory.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero signed the bill Thursday — a week after the Legislature narrowly passed the legislation that allows people ages 21 and older to possess up to an ounce (28 grams), the Pacific Daily News reported .

"We must regulate this illicit drug that is the most widely used drug in our society," the governor said. "We have to take it and control it, monitor its use and effects, benefit from its medicinal efforts, allow our people to live in a safer environment."

People won't be able to legally purchase marijuana until regulations are developed by the new Cannabis Control Board and approved by the Legislature.

The board has up to year to form the rules. The law tasks the nine-member board with overseeing cannabis testing, manufacturing, licensing and packaging.

Guam also needs a cannabis testing facility before sales can begin, Sen. Clynt Ridgell said.

"This has been and continues to be a community issue, but the fight is not over yet," Ridgell said in a statement. "I invite the public to remain focused on continuing to provide input in the development of the rules and regulations by the Cannabis Control Board for safe, adult use cannabis."

The law allows growing as many as six plants for personal use. It prohibits people from using marijuana in public or driving under the influence.

Under the law, employers can still enforce drug-free workplaces.

"Nothing changes in the policies of our workplace as responsible businesses and agencies," the governor said. "We must continue to enforce zero-tolerance of substance abuse in the workplace." </s> The arrival of the new year in California has brought with it broad legalisation of marijuana, a much-anticipated change that comes two decades after the state was the first to allow pot for medical use.

The arrival of the new year in California has brought with it broad legalisation of marijuana, a much-anticipated change that comes two decades after the state was the first to allow pot for medical use.

Cannabis now legal in California for recreational use

Pot is now legal in California for adults aged 21 and older, and individuals can grow up to six plants and possess as much as an ounce of the drug. But finding a retail outlet to buy non-medical pot in California will not be easy, at least initially.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the many cities where recreational pot will not be available straight away because local regulations were not approved in time to start issuing city licences needed to get state permits. Fresno, Bakersfield and Riverside are among the communities that have adopted laws forbidding recreational marijuana sales.

For those who worked for this day to come, the shift offered joyful relief. "We're thrilled," said Khalil Moutawakkil, founder of KindPeoples, which grows and sells weed in Santa Cruz.

"We can talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of the specific regulations, but at the end of the day it's a giant step forward, and we'll have to work out the kinks as we go."

The first attempt to undo that by voter initiative in 1972 failed, but three years later felony possession of less than an ounce was downgraded to a misdemeanour. In 1996, over the objections of law enforcement, Bill Clinton's drug tsar and three former presidents, California voters approved marijuana for medicinal purposes.

In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalise recreational marijuana. Since then, five more states have passed recreational marijuana laws, including Massachusetts, where retail sales are scheduled to begin in July. Even with other states as models, the next year is expected to be a bumpy one in California as more shops open and more stringent regulations take effect on the strains known as Sweet Skunk, Trainwreck and Russian Assassin.

The California Police Chiefs Association, which opposed the 2016 ballot measure, remains concerned about stoned drivers, the risk to young people and the cost of policing the new rules in addition to an existing black market. "There's going to be a public health cost and a public safety cost enforcing these new laws and regulations," said Jonathan Feldman, a legislative advocate for the chiefs. "It remains to be seen if this can balance itself out."

At first, pot shops will be able to sell marijuana harvested without full regulatory controls. But eventually the state will require extensive testing for potency, pesticides and other contaminants. A programme to track all pot from seed to sale will be phased in, along with other protections such as childproof containers.

Jamie Garzot, founder of the 530 Cannabis shop in northern California's Shasta Lake, said she is concerned that when the current crop dries up, there will be a shortage of marijuana that meets state regulations. Her outlet happens to be close to some of California's most productive marijuana-growing areas, but most of the surrounding counties will not allow cultivation that could supply her. "Playing in the grey market is not an option," Ms Garzot said.

"California produces more cannabis than any state in the nation, but going forward, if it's not from a state-licensed source, I can't put it on my shelf. "If I choose to do so, I run the risk of losing my licence." In 2016, the state produced an estimated 13.5 million pounds of pot, and 80% was illegally shipped out of state, according to a report prepared for the state by ERA Economics, an environmental and agricultural consulting firm.

Of the remaining 20 per cent, only a quarter was sold legally for medicinal purposes. That robust black market is expected to continue to thrive, particularly as taxes and fees raise the cost of retail pot by as much as 70pc. </s> California has begun its first historic legal sales of recreational marijuana, inaugurating a milestone move with projections pointing to a turnover of at least $7 billion a year.

Lines formed outside stores licensed to sell the drug long before opening hours on Monday, and store owners said they had stocked up in expectation of huge demand, reports CNN.

"It is probably our busiest day in our seven-year history," said Matt Lucerno, the owner of Buddy's, a dispenser of medical-use marijuana in San Jose that holds the first license issued by California to also sell recreational marijuana.

"We have folks outside; every chair in the building is filled right now."

At Harborside dispensary in Oakland, hundreds lined up to be the first to buy the legal weed.

Speaking to CNN, Lucerno said he expected a 30 per cent bump in sales overnight, but "it looks, in looking around this room, more like 50 to 60 per cent".

California is the sixth US state to allow sales of recreational marijuana, and as the nation's most populous state, it is widely seen as a tremendous boost to mainstreaming marijuana.

"Cannabis is now legal in the most populous state in the country," New Frontier Data, which tracks the cannabis industry, wrote in its 2017 annual report, "dramatically increasing the total potential size of the industry while establishing legal adult use markets across the entire US Pacific Coast given the legalized states of Washington and Oregon".

The California industry is forecast to reach $7 billion in a few years, more than the $6.6 billion of the entire legal cannabis market in the US in 2016, according to New Frontier Data.

California adults aged 21 and older can possess as much as an ounce and grow up to six plants at home, CNN reported.

Massachusetts will begin selling retail marijuana on July 1. Maine has approved it, but there is no set date to begin sales.

Other states that allow the sale of recreational marijuana are Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Nevada.

More retail shops are certain to open soon in California.

The Bureau of Cannabis Control, which issues licenses from the state, had handed out about 200 by the end of last week, spokesman Alex Traverso said. </s> Illinois on Tuesday became the 11th state to legalize the sale and use of recreational marijuana for adults, a major victory for cannabis advocates who incorporated social justice initiatives into the measure.

With Gov. JB Pritzker's signature, the new law is the first of its kind passed by a state legislature and signed by a governor, and capped off a legislative year in which legalization efforts sputtered in New York and New Jersey despite heavy pressure from proponents. With more than 12 million residents, Illinois is now the second-most populous state to permit recreational cannabis, behind only California. Regulators will spend the next few months developing a system for taxing and testing cannabis, and will launch sales Jan. 1, 2020.

“This is a major milestone for the movement to end marijuana prohibition in the United States. It is the clearest sign yet that lawmakers are catching up with the people on this issue,” said Mason Tvert, who helped create Colorado’s first-in-the-nation cannabis system in 2014. “A strong and steadily growing majority of Americans support legalization, and observers have wondered when it would start translating into major victories in state legislatures. Illinois just answered that question."

Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, but federal prosecutors have since 2014 generally ignored marijuana sales in 10 states that had already legalized personal use: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Nevada, Vermont and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.

In all of those states but Vermont, voters themselves directly approved legalization. And Vermont's legislatively-approved measure permits only personal growing and use, not sales.

The new Illinois law lets resident adults buy and possess up 30 grams of cannabis "flower," along with marijuana-infused foods known as edibles, and small amounts of highly concentrated extracts. Non-residents could buy half the amount.

The law also establishes a system for taxing and regulating marijuana, and consumers would pay up to 34.75% tax on their purchases, depending on potency. Regulators would give preference points to members of minority groups seeking to get business licenses, and state-certified labs would test products for potency and contaminants, a growing concern among users. Backers say the measure will create jobs in communities around the state, an argument made by Canadian officials when they legalized marijuana nationally last year.

Money raised by the new taxes would first be dedicated to expunging an estimated 770,000 minor cannabis-related cases. Expungement has long been a goal of marijuana-legalization advocates, who argue the federal government's so-called War on Drugs disproportionately targeted minorities. Other states have similar provisions, usually added after the fact, but Illinois' law is the first to contain such a sweeping expungement provision from the start. Any tax money left over after would be used to support drug-treatment and enforcement programs, improve mental health counseling access, and bolster the state's general fund.

Social justice has become a key component of legalization efforts, but lawmakers in both New York and New Jersey got bogged down in exactly how their programs would work, and ultimately failed to reach consensus on how to proceed.

Kris Krane, a member of the marijuana trade group National Cannabis Industry Association, said Illinois' move will likely pave the way for more legislative legalization.

"The very narrow defeats in New York and New Jersey show just how difficult this process is, even when you seemingly have a legislative consensus for legalization," said Kane, who is also the president of cannabis company 4Front Ventures. "Unfortunately, legislators getting caught up in the minutiae of how to legalize ultimately results in more arrests and prosecutions in those states."

Sam Dorf, chief growth officer of multi-state marijuana company Verano Holdings, said he thinks the Illinois measure provides a framework for other state legislatures, especially when it comes to controlling growth and limiting oversupply, which can be diverted to the black market.

"We believe this legislation sets up a strong, well-regulated program that will be successful and serve as a model for New York, New Jersey and other states that are considering legalization," he said.

Tvert, who now works for Denver-based cannabis-industry firm VS Strategies, said Ohio, North Dakota and Minnesota could be among the next states to pursue legalization, especially since Illinois' Legislature took the plunge into sales: "This should serve as a reminder that support for cannabis legalization is not confined to the coasts. Illinois is the second state in the Midwest to end marijuana prohibition and efforts appear to be picking up steam in the region." </s> CHICAGO (WLS) -- A historic morning in Illinois as Governor Pritzker upholds his campaign promise, signing recreational marijuana, or the Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act (CRTA) into law That means anyone 21 and over will soon be able to purchase and possess marijuana.Supporters say it will be a game-changer for revenue in the state, while opponents say it makes the state more dangerous.Tuesday morning, the governor put pen to paper here in the Austin neighborhood, legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and its commercial sale in the state."As the first state in the nation to fully legalize adult-use cannabis through the legislative process, Illinois exemplifies the best of democracy: a bipartisan and deep commitment to better the lives of all of our people," said Gov. JB Pritzker. "Legalizing adult-use cannabis brings an important and overdue change to our state, and it's the right thing to do. This legislation will clear the cannabis-related records of nonviolent offenders through an efficient combination of automatic expungement, gubernatorial pardon and individual court action. I'm so proud that our state is leading with equity and justice in its approach to cannabis legalization and its regulatory framework. Because of the work of the people here today and so many more all across our state, Illinois is moving forward with empathy and hope."The Democratic-controlled general assembly overwhelmingly approved the bill last month.The bill makes Illinois the 11th state to legalize cannabis and the second to legalize the cannabis possession through the legislative process. The signing of the bill also makes Illinois the first to legalize retail sales legislatively."My office is proud to have helped develop this historic legislation, which will provide conviction relief to hundreds of thousands of Illinois residents in the most extensive and equitable way possible," said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx. "The time for justice is now, especially for communities of color who have long been disproportionately impacted by low-level cannabis convictions and the failed war on drugs. We look forward to continuing our efforts to ensure the broadest relief possible under this revolutionary law."Starting in the New Year, Illinois residents 21 and older will be able to purchase up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, edibles totaling no more than 500mg of THC and five grams of cannabis concentrate products. Non-residents can purchase half those amounts.People will not be allowed to grow their own pot plants unless they are medical marijuana patients.People who have been convicted of some low-level marijuana crimes could be also be pardoned, but that's only if those convictions are not linked to a violent crime.Pritzker hoping this new law will end part of the war on drugs that led to thousands of arrests and low level drug convictions.The overview of the bill is said to create a $30 million low-interest loan program, social equity applicant status for licensing, and expunge roughly 700,000 records.Lawmakers said revenue from the state's marijuana industry will be re-invested in communities that have been hit hard by the war on drugs.Opponents, however, believe legalization will only lead to increased addiction, drivers who are high and overdoses.Illinois has already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana but the federal ban remains in place.Opponents said they're talking to federal law enforcement officials and attorneys to determine their next steps.
Legal sales of recreational-use marijuana, authorized by Alaska ballot measure 2 in 2014, begin in Juneau, the state capital of Alaska.