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Alaska Harvest Company’s Jan Mabrey

I feel like I’ve been set free.

As a mother of three chihuahuas with strong personalities, the demands are high for regular walks, bike rides, and beach days. You’ll also see Jan out and about in Kenai supporting one of her husband’s many bands. In fact, their two sons are both musicians who live in Oregon, so the lineage carries on. 

How are you digging working behind the counter in the weed biz?

I love it, it’s low stress. We’re a smaller operation and everything is done minimally, but with really good results. The setup here is very efficient, with a focus on quality. 

I understand you spent a couple of years caring for your husband who was experiencing prostate cancer. Did he medicate with Cannabis?

Absolutely. We created our own garden, and I grew both THC and CBD strains. I create concentrates with my Magical Butter maker, creating oils that I can make anything with like olive oil, butter, tincture, etc. He actually recovered really well. He had targeted radiation that lasted for about a week and that’s it. Otherwise, we medicated him with Cannabis. Not that we’re allowed to even call it medical, but it’s clearly medicinal in our use. Other people don’t recover from that treatment as well as he did, and possibly because they don’t use Cannabis for the healing. 

What other work have you done?

I worked in oil and gas for 24 years, and other industries where Cannabis use was prohibited. When legalization happened, I was ready for a change. In 2017 after I quit my job, I attended a Keep Cannabis Legal campaign because there was a group that put together a referendum to remove all Cannabis facilities. There were about 20 people who put up their life savings to open shops and be in the industry, and I thought to myself, ‘This isn’t right.’ At one point I stood up and spoke, explained my background, and afterward they contacted me asking to be the treasurer for the campaign. So, I accepted and became an advocate as well. I soon realized that Cannabis has changed a lot since I was 14 when trying it for the first time. 

How do you feel about where you are now in your life?

I feel like I’ve been set free. I can do what I want with Cannabis. It heals me, makes me happy, reduces my stress. It’s a wonderful plant. And it’s God-given. If you believe in God, or whatever, our creator had it goin’ on!

Photos by @shipeshots

About Mike Ricker

The first time Ricker smoked weed was at a Santana concert at the age of 12. He then followed in his footsteps as an award-winning radio personality who became notorious for offering a stage for bong toking listeners in 9 different markets over 20 years. In 2016, the Cannabis industry came calling and the rest is history.

This article was originally published in the September 2021 issue of Alaska Leaf.

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