With Alaska’s newly finalized commercial marijuana regulations, could the state become a destination for cannabis tourism?
Kathy Dunn, Tourism Marketing Manager with Alaska’s Division of Economic Development, says the state thought it was less of a tourism issue before the Marijuana Control Board passed an amendment allowing on-site consumption.
Dunn: “Now they are talking about having these public places [where] people can consume and so that brings it back into the tourism realm. At this point we’ve been discussing it with the Alaska Tourism Marketing Board.”
Dunn says the discussion has brought a potential detriment of legalizing marijuana into the spotlight for the tourism industry.
Dunn: “It’s going to be more of an employment issue to tourism in terms of hiring people, obviously when you’re a driver of a bus for a tourism company they have strict things that you have to do. You have to do drug testing and my understanding is that it can show up in your system for up to 30 days.”
She says if municipalities allow marijuana establishments that mimic bars with alcohol, where individuals 21-years and older can buy and consume cannabis, that will increase the conversation for tourism marketing of legalized pot.