As various marijuana businesses open their doors across the state, one man in Nome hopes to be the first in western Alaska to have a licensed marijuana cultivation facility. KNOM’s Davis Hovey reports:
Robin Thomas used to be in the commercial fishing industry, but now, he’s getting involved in what some people say is a riskier industry: marijuana. Thomas, the owner of Gudlief Organization, showed me around his soon-to-be licensed marijuana cultivation facility in a 600-square-foot building right next to his home.
Upon entering the cannabis shed, I’m given a visitors pass and flash it towards the security camera on the wall. Having a security camera in the building is one of the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office’s regulations, and, as Thomas explains, there are many rules to follow when operating a marijuana cultivation facility in Alaska.
“One of the rules is you have to have a washroom,” explained Thomas. “A lot of big grow outfits make you wear hairnets, rubber gloves, and respirators — and no cellphones, ’cause they’re dirty things, especially if you’ve been on the cell phone in the bathroom or what have you.”
When it comes to growing, Thomas has his own soil which he ordered online from Amazon, various containers, and LED lights for the marijuana plants, and, of course, his own organic growing style.
“What we’re trying to do right here is basically let it ‘cook,’ or compost. Even though it doesn’t have a lot of vegetative matter in there, we will be adding some of our waste, marijuana leaves, and stems to the mix, and what we’re trying to do here is create microbes.” Thomas added, “you add some molasses to it and maybe some other nutrients to it: like, I have some alfalfa meal.”
With 70 watts of LED lighting per square foot, Thomas is hoping to grow one gram of cannabis per watt in a space of about 300 square feet. Ultimately, Thomas says it takes about two months to grow cannabis with an additional month of cure. With a perpetual harvest, maybe he’ll grow two pounds a week.
Thomas has also initiated the process to open a licensed marijuana retail store and is in the early stages of that application. There’s uncertainty about the rate people will be consuming his product, but Thomas says he didn’t get into the marijuana business for the money.
“I’m not in it to get rich. I’m kind of in it as a retirement job,” said Thomas, “because I don’t have a lot of retirement; I’ve always been self-employed. I get a small social security check in another five or ten years… so this will help supplement my retirement income.”
Thomas says he and his family personally believe in the medicinal value of marijuana, which he wants to incorporate into his product.
“You know, as far as any drug or pharmaceutical for pain or medicine, we trust marijuana or cannabis more than those other things,” stated Thomas, “so, we’re going to try to have the best of both worlds: you know, something that might suit somebody just to be relaxed and calm and still be able to carry on their daily activities, and then, maybe something more medicinal that will knock you out so you can sleep or kill some pain.”
Thomas muses that, maybe one day, he will pass on this side-gig to his kids or other family members, but in the meantime, he is finishing up the necessary permitting to open his business.
Depending on how the rest of the permitting process goes, Gudlief Organization could potentially be open for business in 3 months. Currently, the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office (AMCO) has issued a 60-day public comment period regarding Thomas’ facility.
