When That New Marijuana Business Splits Your Town

A tiny Alaskan tourist town has become the front line for supporters and opponents of the emerging legal marijuana business in this country.

The town of Talkeetna, a quirky tourist destination known for art galleries and souvenir shops, has become divided over the opening of High Expedition Co.

The shop is the town's first marijuana retail business and some in the community say its presence is not appropriate, arguing that it could damage the multimillion-dollar businesses others in the town have created, according to the Associated Press.

"I don't think he belongs in downtown Talkeetna," Meandering Moose B&B owner Mike Stoltz told the Associated Press, adding that the pot store's presence may harm business in a historic town where residents make a year's living between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Talkeetna attracts a steady stream of visitors, many from cruise ships, who come to roam its two-block long Main Street district, exploring galleries and stores housed in historic cabins. Travelers also use the town as staging point for treks up Denali.

High Expedition Company opened in mid-May. The store got its approval on a technicality when the borough assembly was writing regulations for marijuana businesses in unincorporated areas, like Talkeetna and inadvertently omitted special land use districts - like the town's Main Street, the Associated Press reported.

"Small towns in Alaska are harder than anywhere to break into and sort of become accepted," the store's co-owner, Joe McAneney said.

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Among the biggest criticisms of the store's presence is that there's no place for tourists to legally smoke the marijuana.

As in other states where recreational cannabis is now legal, Alaska prohibits public consumption, according to USA Today. In addition, cruise-ship passengers are prohibited from bringing marijuana aboard because pot remains illegal at the federal level and federal law governs cruise ships operating in American waters, USA Today reported.

Talkeetna residents worry that those who end up purchasing the marijuana will use the nearby river park as the place to enjoy it.

The battle over the presence in the new shop has not been seen in other tourist-dependent towns in Alaska, a Libertarian-leaning state. A handful of similar shops have opened in Anchorage without incident, according to USA Today.

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