Bethel’s second marijuana store, Kusko Kush, opened its doors on Wednesday, Feb. 26. Several customers were in the store around 2 p.m., choosing from about a dozen strains of marijuana available.
Kusko Kush almost didn’t happen. Last year, store owners Naim Shabani and Jared Karr signed a lease agreement with the City of Bethel, but that was before the city council knew it was going to be a marijuana store.
A dispute between the two sides lasted for months. The city threatened to void the lease; Kusko Kush's owners threatened to sue the city. Eventually, the city sold the land to the store. Jared Karr is just glad it’s all over.
“The journey was long,” Karr said. “And there were lots of roadblocks with, uh, different government agencies, but now that we’re here, we’re excited to be open.”
A week before Kusko Kush’s opening, Bethel’s first marijuana store, ALASKAbuds, experienced a break-in and burglary. Karr says that doesn’t worry him.
“When we designed the building, we designed it specifically first around security,” Karr said. “That’s why there’s no windows, we have metal doors, metal doorframes, many other security features to the building.”
Karr’s store is brand new, from the building itself to everything inside, and he’s clearly proud.
“We wanted to put together a store that not only we were proud of, but that the City of Bethel was proud of as well,” Karr said. “We wanted to make a nice store, period. Not nice for Bethel. Not nice for Alaska. But a nice store.”
Bethel residents and visitors now have two options across the street from each other where they can legally buy marijuana.
