Walker appoints Nick Miller to MCB

Gov. Bill Walker on Wednesday appointed marijuana industry representative Nick Miller to the Marijuana Control Board.

The appointment fills the seat left vacant by Bruce Schulte, the former chair of the board whom Walker ejected from the board on July 29. Miller, the chair of the Anchorage Cannabis Business Association, is in the process of opening a retail store in Anchorage.

“I’m very pleased to appoint Nick to the Marijuana Control Board during this critical time in this new industry’s development,” Walker said in a press release. “Nick will do a great job complementing the existing Alaska Marijuana Industry Association’s representation on the board, and enable even broader industry perspectives.”

Miller joins four other members of the Marijuana Control Board as the second industry representative alongside Brandon Emmett, who has applied for a marijuana production license in Fairbanks. The other members represent public health, the rural public and public safety, hailing from Juneau, Bethel and Soldotna, respectively.

Stakeholders in the marijuana industry had expressed concern that Walker’s new appointee might not represent industry interests. There are two seats on the Marijuana Control Board to represent industry, though Emmett’s seat is technically industry/public, while Schulte’s former seat is industry.

The law establishing the Marijuana Control Board provided for one person from the public safety sector; one person from the public health sector, one person currently residing in a rural area, one person actively engaged in the marijuana industry and one person who is either from the general public or actively engaged in the marijuana industry. Because Emmett is currently actively engaged in the marijuana industry, he would fill the industry requirement, and the other member could be a member of the public.

Emmett represents the Alaska Marijuana Industry Association, the statewide industry group for the marijuana industry, and Schulte gave up his position as president of the association when he took the position as chair of the Marijuana Control Board.

Miller represents another smaller industry group, the approximately 30-member Anchorage Cannabis Business Association, which focuses specifically on marijuana businesses in the Municipality of Anchorage. The goal of the association is to “provide two-way communication between industry participants and government officials (and) agencies,” according to Walker’s press release.

Miller could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening. His appointment runs through Feb. 28, 2016, according to the release from the governor’s office.

Reach Elizabeth Earl at [email protected].