It won’t be held on 4/20, but the Chamber of Commerce is organizing a community forum next week that will focus on the economic and legal aspects of the potential commercialization of marijuana in Haines.
The forum will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the ANB Hall on Thursday, April 23.
Chamber executive director Debra Schnabel said she is hoping three panelists will attend, though the speakers haven’t been finalized. Criminal and domestic relations lawyer Kevin Higgins will attend, and Schnabel is also hoping to host a Department of Commerce representative and a journalist.
The forum will include a question and answer session.
Chamber vice president Barbara Mulford has started brainstorming topics for the speakers to touch on including: Can the Haines Borough legally collect tax on marijuana? If so, can it deposit the revenues into a bank account? Can the borough limit the number of commercial growers? Would the business license process be the same process as other retail operations? Can a person grow marijuana and sell it?
Lawyer Higgins said most of these questions have no solid answer yet, because the state hasn’t set regulations and is still debating multiple pieces of marijuana legislation.
“There’s a lot of conflicting stuff that is happening and there is going to be a lot of harmonization that needs to take place over these next five to six days,” Higgins said of the legislature’s session drawing to a close. “It’s looking rough.”
There are three major marijuana bills bouncing around between the Senate and House, including one that would establish a state Marijuana Control Board. The House passed HB 123 Tuesday that would establish the board tasked with crafting marijuana regulations.
HB 75, which also passed the House, addresses the municipality’s role in regulating marijuana businesses.
The closely-watched “Marijuana Crime Bill,” SB 30, has passed the Senate and would continue to list marijuana as a controlled substance under state law.
Higgins said he will talk about many of these pieces of legislation. “I’ll just kind of give my perspective on some of the broader legal issues. It’s no secret. I’m just kind of someone who follows the general news about cannabis’ legal developments,” he said.
Ballot Measure 2 requires the state to adopt marijuana regulations by November and begin issuing licenses by May 2016.