FAIRBANKS — A “Get the Facts about Marijuana” Web page published by the state of Alaska attempts to address health and social issues following the legalization of marijuana. But offering relevant and helpful information has proved challenging in the midst of the burgeoning cannabis culture — particularly regarding driving under the influence. 

The website — published by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services — outlines health facts, tips for safe storage and talking with children, law basics and addiction resources regarding the active drug in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. 

A bill signed into law Monday creates a Marijuana Control Board that will take the lead in crafting Alaska's marijuana laws. 

Now signed by Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, House Bill 123 creates a five-member volunteer board that will craft Alaska’s marijuana regulations. It will address a wide array of issues, from the amount of THC allowed per edible product to business license types to security and safety requirements. 

Walker’s signing of the bill is no surprise, as he had said he supported the version that lawmakers passed.

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Even though several US states have voted to legalize marijuana, it's still not clear how best to regulate it. But there are steps that legislators can take to prevent the newly legal drug from falling into the hands of minors, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. A new report in the medical journal Pediatrics outlines four tested tactics for proposed regulation.

Alaska’s first draft marijuana regulations, proposed Thursday during an Alcoholic Beverage Control Board meeting in Anchorage, address what it means to help someone grow marijuana and what local-option law will look like.

The meeting at the downtown Legislative Information Office attracted about two dozen spectators, who lined a large conference room, surrounding board members and agency staff at a table in the center of the room.

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A general sense of optimism prevailed among the audience members, many of whom hoped to start marijuana businesses.

Ronda Marcy, a paralegal who hopes to open a commercial grow, called the meeting “a positive step in the right direction.”

Two months from now, on July 1, Oregon will become the fourth state to allow residents to legally purchase marijuana for recreational use. In anticipation of legalization, the governing body that will oversee marijuana licensing and sales is preparing for something unexpected: A huge influx of cold, hard cash.

Legal marijuana in states like Colorado and Washington have surpassed revenue expectations in their first few years. But when marijuana businesses try to pay their taxes, the federal law that makes marijuana illegal limits their access to financial institutions.

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — One of the strongest new upstarts to establish itself as a separate vertical within the greater marijuana industry is the part of the market known loosely as "concentrates and oils." This can refer, technically, to anything from CBD tinctures fed to epileptic children to highly concentrated THC waxes that are ingested orally or vaped.

The Last Frontier took its place as one of the first on the cannabis-legalization frontier, becoming one of just four states and the District of Columbia that have legalized use and possession of the plant, when the state’s voters passed Ballot Measure 2 during the November 2014 elections.

As Legislature prepares to pass the baton on marijuana

Speaking in a conference room within the Alaska State Capitol, James Barrett reached into a pocket and pulled out two $1 bills.

Waving them, he drew the attention of lawmakers who leaned back in their leather chairs and listened to him with new attention.

“When we dial it down to cost per Alaskan, it’s less than two bucks,” he said waving the bills.

Barrett was speaking in favor of the establishment of the Alaska Marijuana Control Board on Friday, and after he spoke, it sailed through the Alaska Senate Finance Committee. A day later, it passed the full Senate with unanimous approval.

Two pieces of marijuana legislation were heard on the Senate floor Saturday afternoon. A Marijuana Control Board bill moved forward, while a bill clarifying municipal regulations of marijuana was held for reconsideration in the final days of Alaska’s legislative session.

House Bill 123, which would create a Marijuana Control Board, passed unanimously on the Senate floor, 20-0.

Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, said before the vote that the bill was “a responsible step … to respond to the voter initiative.”

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