Pubdate: Mon, 23 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
Author: Matt Buxton

STATE, LOCAL LAWMAKERS WORKING TO DEFINE 'PUBLIC' POT USE

JUNEAU - The voter initiative that legalized marijuana possession and 
use for people 21 and older that goes into effect on Tuesday 
specifically doesn't allow using marijuana in public, but just what 
"public" means is unclear.

Defining just what is and isn't public ultimately will be up to the 
Legislature and local municipalities to decide, but a bill seeking to 
do that will miss making it into law on Tuesday by a long shot.

People caught using marijuana in public will face a $100 fine under 
Ballot Measure 2.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, which is the default agency 
handling marijuana regulations, is scheduled to meet early Tuesday. 
ABC Board Executive Director Cynthia Franklin said the board likely 
would issue an emergency regulation that pulls the reference from the 
existing criminal laws.

The definition of public place can be found in Alaska Statute 
11.81.900 and reads as the following:

"'Public place' means a place to which the public or a substantial 
group of persons has access and includes highways, transportation 
facilities, schools, places of amusement or business, parks, 
playgrounds, prisons, and hallways, lobbies, and other portions of 
apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments 
designed for actual residence."

That definition will include restaurants and bars, Franklin said.

While it may leave some people unhappy that consumption will be 
almost entirely limited to private property, Franklin said at this 
point in time, it's ultimately a matter of getting a well-vetted 
definition into law. Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. isn't the time to be 
creating large carve-outs for users, she said.

"In the form of an emergency regulation, we're bypassing the 
Department of Law," she said. "It's not a super great idea to take 
that very unusual procedure and use your own definition of 'public.' 
We are going to at least have the definition of 'public.'"

The Legislature's sweeping crime bill dealing with the gray areas 
created between Ballot Measure 2 and existing criminal laws is Senate 
Bill 30 and it has ballooned to more than 90 pages as lawmakers 
sought better and more thorough changes to state law they and most 
marijuana legalization advocates have come to support.

The definition of public currently contained in that bill is similar 
to the one the ABC Board will consider on Tuesday.

Up until Friday, the bill had allowed for consumption in places where 
it was specifically allowed through registration, which would allow 
for smoking in pot bars or clubs if and when the state permits those 
types of businesses.

But with commercial permits and licenses more than a year away, the 
committee on Friday removed that exemption.

Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, said he thought it was too early for 
such an exemption.

"They said it would be illegal to smoke in public, this would be an 
exception," he said. "In my view, I'd rather start with the basics of 
the initiative and move forward slowly."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom