Alaska Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development (DCCED) is the state department that regulates businesses and industries statewide. It oversees alcohol, marijuana, insurance, banking and professional licensing boards, and administers rural grants and economic development programs.
Photo by Wonderlane, via Flickr · Photo source · CC BY 2.0
commerce.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
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July 2026
Anchorage Assembly set to approve transfer of three marijuana licenses to sole ownership at one address
Anchorage Assembly votes Monday to transfer three marijuana licenses at one address to sole owner Yotam Levi, meeting a July 28 state protest deadline.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage operator seeks renewal of four marijuana licenses across two sites
Anchorage operator Eun Lee seeks renewal of four marijuana licenses at two sites; the city's protest window closes July 25 and 26.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
June 2026
One Anchorage restaurant keeps getting caught serving with expired cards
Alaska cited six bars and restaurants for servers pouring with expired training cards — one Anchorage spot for the fifth time in four years, now risking its liquor license.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A Spenard Pot Shop Changes Hands as Anchorage's Market Cools
A Spenard dispensary is rebranding under new owners — a small sign of a bigger shift, as Anchorage's pot tax take slips and the early gold-rush crowd thins out.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A New El Green-Go's Is Coming to East Anchorage
East Anchorage is getting another El Green-Go's — the liquor license has cleared every hurdle, and only a quiet July 21 deadline stands in the way.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Two Things Worth Watching at the Marijuana Board
Alaska's marijuana board meets in Fairbanks, where a license sale comes with baggage and growers renew their gripe that untaxed hemp THC is eating their lunch.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A Hoonah Corporation Quietly Builds a Cruise Empire
Huna Totem Corporation, the Alaska Native village corporation for Hoonah, is expanding its cruise business by adding its own vessels to a fleet that already operates ports across Southeast Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Scammers Are Posing as Alaska's Liquor Regulators
Scammers are mailing fake invoices dressed up as Alaska liquor regulators — but the giveaway is easy: the real ones only ever email from @alaska.gov.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Lab tests found alcohol in O.P.M.S. kratom drinks, and unlicensed Alaska stores are being told to stop selling them
State lab tests found O.P.M.S. kratom drinks contain enough alcohol to be regulated like beer, and unlicensed retailers across Alaska are being told to stop selling them.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read
Alaska's legal cannabis growers say tax-free synthetic THC is sinking them
Alaska's legal weed growers pay the nation's highest pot tax, then get undercut by tax-free THC from the mailbox. They'd like a word.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Alaska's liquor-license office is buried — and says it's worse than the numbers show
Alaska's liquor-license office has a 59-deep backlog, a 1,200-renewal pile, and a memo basically saying it's worse than that. Cheers.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Girdwood pot shop, Bird Creek grow op seek Anchorage license renewals
Two marijuana licenses in Girdwood and Bird Creek are up for renewal, with Anchorage having until early July to formally object.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago1 min read
May 2026
Alaska Marijuana Control Board denies Anchorage cultivation license renewal over $633,000 tax debt
Alaska Marijuana Control Board revoked Anchorage cultivator Alaskasense's license Wednesday over $633,000 in unpaid excise taxes.
by Grant Robinsonadded 5mo ago1 min read
Alaska Marijuana Control Board approves THC oral pouch product
Alaska Marijuana Control Board approved the state's first THC oral pouch product from Lolo Creations, LLC on a 4-1 vote, with the law enforcement member dissenting over child ingestion risks.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read
Alaska Marijuana Board schedules special session on Anchorage ordinance
Alaska Marijuana Control Board scheduled a special meeting for June 3, 2026, to address AO360, an Anchorage ordinance, though the notice did not specify what issues the board will tackle.
by Alaska News6mo ago2 min readApril 2026
Senate Committee Hears Testimony on Nurse Licensure Compact Bill
State officials want to join a nursing compact to fill 1,100 vacancies and save $272 million in federal funding. The nurses union opposes the bill over concerns about workplace conditions.
by Alaska Newsadded 7mo ago2 min readAbout Alaska Department of Commerce, Community & Economic Development
Photo by Wonderlane, via Flickr · Photo source · CC BY 2.0
commerce.alaska.gov ↗Alaska
The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, known as DCCED, is the state department that regulates businesses and industries across Alaska. It oversees alcohol, marijuana, insurance, banking and professional licensing, and it runs rural grants and economic development programs.
Much of its regulatory work runs through the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office and its two boards. They decide liquor and marijuana license applications, transfers and renewals, write rules on cannabis testing and edible potency, and run compliance checks that send underage decoys into bars and shops. Local governments can object to licenses in their communities.
Its professional licensing boards, which license trades such as dentistry and barbering, face periodic legislative audits that decide whether each board continues. The department is part of the State of Alaska's executive branch.