http://www.adn.com/article/20151120...oposal-allow-consumption-retail-outlet-0Thinking this would rate as a very bad idea... right up there with letting people drink in public and drive home...
Alaska Marijuana Control Board considers proposal to allow consumption in retail outlets
Laurel Andrews
November 20, 2015
Bob Hallinen / ADN
A proposed change to the Alaska Marijuana Control Board’s draft regulations would allow for consumption of marijuana at retail stores across the state.
The change allows for people to buy marijuana at a retail store and consume it in a designated area on the store’s premises.
If the amendment passes, Alaska would become the first state to allow an area for consumption of marijuana outside of a person’s home or other private spaces.
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It would also be a major shift from the board’s former policy position.
In Alaska, several social clubs focused on marijuana consumption opened after legalization, in response to the question of where one might go to consume marijuana. But the clubs were deemed to fall under the definition of a public place, and since public consumption is illegal, so were the clubs, the state argued. The clubs maintained they were acting legally.
Then in August, the Marijuana Control Board rolled out proposed regulations that would explicitly ban the clubs. The decision was met with a wave of negative public comment, including a brief demonstration by social club supporters during the board meeting.
The board had argued that it didn’t have the power to create an additional license type, as only four license types (retail, cultivation, manufacturing and testing facilities) were specified under Alaska’s legalization initiative.
The proposed amendment sidesteps the argument by creating a space to consume marijuana under the auspices of a retail license. It would also exclude the retailers from the definition of a public space.
If the amendment passes, Alaska would be bucking a trend that has so far held steady in other states that have legalized recreational marijuana.
In Washington and Colorado, public consumption is illegal. In July, though, legislation was passed in Washington that explicitly banned clubs.
In Colorado, local governments are taking a crack at rules that would allow for clubs. The state doesn’t monitor or license spaces for consumption, wrote Ro Silva, acting communications director for the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Meanwhile, in Oregon, social clubs are neither expressly permitted nor banned, said Mark Pettinger, spokesman for the recreational marijuana program with the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, but public consumption is likewise banned.
Contact Laurel Andrews at laurel
alaskadispatch.com or on Twitter
