Alaska Marijuana Control Board denies Anchorage cultivation license renewal over $633,000 tax debt

Anchorage cultivator Alaskasense, LLC has lost its license after the Alaska Marijuana Control Board voted Wednesday to deny renewal of License 10237, citing tax debts that ballooned from $174,456 in January to $633,009 by March. All marijuana and infused product at the facility was placed on administrative hold.

By the end of 2025, 69 cultivators were past due on more than $5.5 million in unpaid taxes to the Department of Revenue. Another 25 simply declined to renew their licenses last year.

Alaska levies its cannabis excise tax at the cultivation stage — $50 per ounce of bud, due whether or not the product ultimately sells in retail stores. Legal marijuana retails for $180 to $400 an ounce; black market product runs $100 to $150. State cannabis tax revenue has slid from about $30 million in 2021 to roughly $25 million in 2025.

Two bills in Juneau would have dismantle the cultivation tax this year. Neither passed.

For Alaskasense, neither would have arrived in time.