State regulators to consider doubling the legal THC limit for retail edible products

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office is in the process of gathering public input on proposed amendments to the legal level of THC per individual doses and single packages of edible cannabis products. The current limit per dose is 5 milligrams, while the allowable amount per package is 50 milligrams. The changes in question would result in both totals being doubled — to 10 and 100 milligrams, respectively.

According to Lacy Wilcox, president of the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, the state’s current totals are on the lower end of legal limits in states where the retail sale of marijuana is permitted. According to Wilcox, Alaska intentionally adopted a cautious approach in 2015, when legalization was first implemented.

“We decided to choose the lower, versus the higher model that was out there in some other legal states, just to be careful and see how it went. So we knew, that eventually, we were going to want to revisit it,” she said. “The industry knew, regulators were obviously aware, that it was a conversation that we were going to need to have going forward.”

Wilcox also says that amending the THC levels per dose and package would be a game-changer for members of the state’s cannabis industry.

“When you can bring down your cost to produce and your cost of raw ingredient, you’re increasing the thing that people are after, which is the THC content,” she said. “You’re still going to use the same amount of chocolate in the chocolate bar, labor, time and packaging — all of those other costs, but you are going to have a more valuable product.”

On Thursday, the Municipality of Anchorage’s Committee on Community and Economic Development, chaired by Assemblyman John Weddleton, is expected to address the topic at a local level.

“We talked about it very briefly at our previous meeting,” Weddleton said. “One person in the industry said that the proposed new standard is more typical around the country.”

Weddleton told Alaska’s News Source that the meeting will likely be exploratory in nature and that the municipality would likely decide whether to submit comments to the board after additional discussions have been held. When asked about whether the proposed changes might impact the municipality’s direction on the on-site consumption of edibles, Weddleton said the current rules are already so restrictive that nobody has applied to participate.

Alaska’s News Source reached out to AMCO about the proposed changes on Tuesday afternoon. A representative responded, asking that we submitted written questions to be answered as part of the formal process for collecting public comment.

The deadline to submit opinions to the AMCO board is March 5. AMCO will accept comments by email at amco.regs@alaska.gov. Comments may also be submitted through the Alaska Online Public Notice System