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COA explainer · United States

Alaska: from cultivation to store shelf, what the label carries

Play it: a harvest batch moves through Alaska’s workflow on the left, and each required label piece snaps onto the package on the right, color-coded by who adds it.

Sample data · Alaska (Marijuana Control Board, 3 AAC 306) · for illustration

Published

🏷️ The product label, building live

Midnight Sun Farm · Flower
Marijuana Bud and Flower, 3.5 g
Fictional sample label for illustration, not a compliant, printable label.
🌱 Cultivation facility adds it🔬 Testing facility adds it🏪 Retail store adds it🏛️ Marijuana Control Board (always required)
The big idea: in Alaska the cultivation facility collects its own sample and signs that it is representative, the required lab panel is short (potency, five pathogens, solvents for extracts) and there is no THC symbol. In exchange, the grower must disclose every pesticide it used, the wholesale label shows potency as a three-month range instead of one number, and the retail store adds its own label with the estimated THC and five plain warnings.

Sample label for illustration, not a compliant, printable label. Alaska rules (Marijuana Control Board, 3 AAC 306), current October 2026. Educational, not legal advice.

Step by step: Alaska

  1. Step 1: Harvest batch, cut into 10 lb packages (Cultivation facility) A licensed cultivation facility dries and cures a harvest batch, then divides it into packages of 10 pounds or less, each with its own tag number in Metrc, the seed-to-sale system AMCO uses. Every one of those packages is sampled separately.
  2. Step 2: The grower samples itself (Cultivation facility) Alaska relies on the licensee: the facility names one person to collect a representative sample, sixteen 1-gram pieces for a 10 lb package, who signs a statement that it is representative and sends it to the lab with the sample. The package is set aside, cool and dry, until results arrive in writing.
  3. Step 3: Independent testing facility (Testing facility) A licensed testing facility runs the panel under a scientific director with a chemistry or biology degree and years of lab experience. Its licensees, employees and agents may hold no interest in any other marijuana business.
  4. Step 4: A short required panel (Testing facility) Flower must pass potency (THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA and CBN, plus total THC and total CBD), screens for E. coli STEC, Salmonella and three Aspergillus molds, and a visual foreign-matter check; solvent extracts add residual solvents. Pesticides and metals are not on that required list: the grower discloses every pesticide it used instead.
  5. Step 5: Results into Metrc (Testing facility) The lab enters each result into Metrc within 24 hours of finishing, gives the final report to the grower, and must tell the state within 72 hours when a sample exceeds a limit. This unlocks the potency and the tested-by name the grower must pass on.
  6. Step 6: Pass / fail (Marijuana Control Board) A failed sample sinks its whole package, which must be destroyed. The only ways out need state approval: a written request to retest, or permission to turn the batch into a CO2 or solvent extract that must then pass every required test.
  7. Step 7: Wholesale label shows a range (Cultivation facility) Each package carries the grower’s name and license, the Metrc tag number, net weight and a list of every pesticide, fungicide and herbicide used. The shipping container shows the test results, with potency written as a range covering every test of that strain from that grower in the last three months.
  8. Step 8: Retail store (Retail store) The store adds its own label: its name or logo and license number, the estimated THC, and five state warnings. It checks photo ID for 21+, sells at most one ounce of flower per person per day, and seals the sale in resealable, child-resistant packaging.

Frequently asked questions

Who tests cannabis in Alaska?
A licensed marijuana testing facility whose licensees, employees and agents may hold no interest in any other marijuana business. For flower it must measure THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA and CBN, report total THC and total CBD, and screen for E. coli STEC, Salmonella and three Aspergillus molds; solvent-based concentrates are also tested for residual solvents. Results go into Metrc within 24 hours.
Who pulls the sample in Alaska?
The grower does. The cultivation facility designates one person to collect a representative sample from each harvest batch package of up to 10 pounds, sixteen 1-gram pieces at the 10-pound size, who signs a statement that it is representative and gives it to the lab. The package stays segregated until written results come back. For random compliance checks, the state's chosen lab collects samples.
What has to be on a cannabis label in Alaska?
From the grower: the facility name and license number, the Metrc tag number, net weight, a list of every pesticide, fungicide and herbicide used, and five state warnings. The wholesale shipping label shows the lab results, with potency as a three-month range. The retail store adds its own name and license number and the estimated THC. Alaska requires no THC symbol.
Does Alaska test cannabis for pesticides?
Not as a routine required test. Alaska's required lab panel covers potency, five pathogens and, for solvent-based extracts, residual solvents. Instead, the grower must disclose in writing every fertilizer, soil amendment and pesticide used on each harvest batch and list all pesticides, fungicides and herbicides on each package, and the state can order random checks of soil, water and pesticides.

Keep reading

How to read a cannabis label Terpene glossary Every COA explainer
Educational information only, not medical advice. Terpene and cannabinoid effects are an active area of research and vary by person, product, and dose. Cannabis is for adults 21+ where legal.

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