Potential business owners, investors and state regulators have worked in building a new industry in the two years upon the voters' approval to the Ballot Measure 2. However, bigger issues including how to legally transport marijuana from any community that is not on the road system still remained unresolved.

CannTest is a marijuana testing facility in an industrial patch of Anchorage tucked between the port and the railroad. Despite being on the building for almost a year now, it is not noticeable because of its blank walls and near-empty rooms, each of which is devoted to pieces of laboratory equipment which has the same appearance with photocopiers and Toyo stoves.

"The machine that's on the right, which is called the head-space sampler, basically just heats the product up really really hot, and that puts all the gases up into this tiny little tube," explained Mark Malagodi, CEO of CannTest.

These testing facilities are essential pieces of Alaska's commercial cannabis industry. Whether one is growing organic bud, making pot brownies, or manufacturing concentrates, a portion of each batch needs to be brought to a lab. Thereafter, Malagodi's machines will test for potency, mold, and bacteria like E. coli.

According to Malagodi, these facilities are extremely expensive to set up and to staff. He nonetheless did not want to disclose the specifics about its purchase costs for the said equipment. However, he said that it was somewhere between a car and a house.

"More than an RV," he laughed.

State regulations prohibit cultivators or retailers from also owning testing facilities. The goal of which is to avoid a fox-guarding-the-hen-house situation. However, this adds the burden for rural pot businesses, because there is a possibility that only small communities can support their own capital-intensive testing labs. This means that they will be relying only on the ones in the state's population centers.

As of the moment, two testing facilities are about to open, both of which are located in Anchorage. A third lab in Juneau, however, is several weeks behind. Malagodi confirmed that his business will begin testing samples after outside company finishes the accreditation of the lab.

"That's one of the questions in Alaska right now," Malagodi said. "What's the volume going to be?"

Railbelt is where the vast majority of pot businesses are found. For them, the transportation system is theoretically worked out. A grower can drive samples to a lab like CannTest, and, for $70 to $220, have it certified.

 "As far as the spirit of what's been done here, it's frustrating," Malagodi said. "It was opened up to Alaska, and then denied to many."

Malagodi is currently trying to finalize the accreditation of his lab so they can start accepting samples by Halloween.