Alaska marijuana board revisits under-21 rules after Craig, Klawock checks failed

The Alaska State Troopers and the Alcohol & Marijuana Control Office ran undercover compliance checks in the Craig and Klawock areas on July 30, using participants under 21. Every establishment visited was found non-compliant, and authorities issued seven infractions.

Six weeks later, those rules go before the Alaska Marijuana Control Board as an initial draft for discussion rather than adoption. The draft covers people under 21 on licensed premises and in restricted access areas.

Today no one under 21 may enter a retail marijuana store, and every entrance must carry a sign reading "No one under 21 years of age allowed," at least 12 inches square. The one exception is a licensee or employee bringing their own child, up to 18 months old, into a designated breastfeeding area that must not expose the child to marijuana.

Restricted access areas are the parts of a premises where marijuana is grown, processed, tested, stored or stocked, and in a store the area stocked for sale. State regulation says "a person under 21 years of age may not enter" a restricted access area.

At its September 2025 regular meeting in Anchorage, the board approved the DMV mobile ID verifier app as an acceptable form of proof of age. Enforcement Supervisor Joe Bankowski reported to the board in January that AMCO conducted 53 inspections of licensed premises between Nov. 20, 2025, and Jan. 23, with three investigator vacancies open.

The under-21 item is one of 13 projects listed on the agenda as initial drafts, alongside packaging and labeling, advertising and promotions, limits on quantity sold, and causes for license denial. Definitions are listed separately for board discussion rather than as an initial draft.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Sept. 22, Zoom only. Anyone needing accommodations should email AMCO program coordinator Jane Sawyer by Sept. 15.

Any regulation that emerges from the Sept. 22 discussion would need to return to the board for later action before taking effect. The board's next regular meeting is Nov. 18 and 19 in Anchorage.