Pubdate: Thu, 05 Feb 2015
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2015 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://newsminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/764

JUNEAU DEFINES 'PUBLIC PLACES' WHERE POT USE WILL BE BANNED

Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The Juneau Assembly has defined "public places" 
in the city where marijuana cannot be used under the state's new 
voter-approved recreational pot law.

The assembly Monday also added marijuana to its secondhand smoke 
rules, adding pot to tobacco on the list of substances that cannot be 
smoked in "bars, private clubs, and any other enclosed space where 
marijuana or alcoholic beverages are sold, or food is offered for sale."

The assembly could reconsider public use regulations when the state 
sets guidelines for marijuana establishments, the Juneau Empire 
(http://bit.ly/1F6qFyh) reported.

Voters in November approved legalizing recreational use of marijuana. 
The state law takes effect Feb. 24. It specifies that adults no 
longer will be arrested under state law for possessing up to an ounce 
of pot outside their homes. Adults also no longer will be prosecuted 
for growing up to six plants.

Under the new law, the state has nine months from Feb. 24 to set 
guidelines for marijuana retail outlets, growers and testing establishments.

The state law bans using pot in public but did not define public 
places. Under the Juneau ordinance, public places will include 
streets, sidewalks, trails, parking lots, schools, businesses, parks 
and "the common areas of public or private buildings and facilities."

Giono Barrett, who has announced his intention to open a marijuana 
establishment with his brother, and possibly document the experience 
in a TV series, said they needed a better definition of public space. 
A fenced-in porch for marijuana use by legal adults should be allowed 
for public celebrations, he said.

Benjamin Wilcox said some of the thousands of Juneau summer visitors 
likely will want to consume marijuana instead of alcohol if they have 
a safe place to do so.

"It seems kind of odd that you might want to offer a substance to 
purchase, collect the taxes happily and then turn them into a 
criminal," he said. "They have bars to consume alcohol, they need a 
place to now consume this legal substance."

Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
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