Megan and Marcus Mooers — owners/operators of The Higher Calling, a bring-your-own-cannabis social club located in Fairbanks, Alaska — have been working hard since the opening of their business just over a month ago.
The Higher Calling doesn’t offer cannabis for sale. Rather, patrons can pay a membership fee to gain access to the building, where they are allowed to smoke and consume their own marijuana in a safe, social environment.
Alcohol, synthetic marijuana, and other illicit substances are not allowed on the premises. However — in addition to a private membership — the club does offer coffee, snacks, and the use of a game room to its patrons.
“We recognize that we are the flagship cannabis business for all of the North Star Boroughs,” Marcus Mooers told Alaska Public Media. “While we’re doing a lot to try to make our members happy and to help the community realize that it’s OK for them, it’s legal now, it’s OK to come out and consume and even say that you smoke marijuana or consume marijuana, we also want to make sure that we’re really respectful to the community and the neighborhood.”
Currently, clubs like The Higher Calling are an unregulated aspect of Alaska’s cannabis community: regulators have been more focused on the cultivation, processing, lab testing and distribution of the plant.
“There’s debate on whether there will be licensing for private clubs,” said Megan Mooers. “If so, then we’ll be applying for a license for that.”
Meanwhile, the Alaska Marijuana Control Board’s Executive Director Cindy Franklin has stated that she considers these social cannabis clubs to be operating illegally, though the Board has so far failed to address the issue.
Photo Credit: Amy Meredith