Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2015
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Copyright: 2015 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Laurel Andrews

AS MARIJUANA BECOMES LEGAL, EMERGENCY REGULATION DEFINES WHAT'S 'PUBLIC'

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board issued an emergency regulation 
at a meeting of its board Tuesday morning defining a "public place" 
for the purposes of legal marijuana consumption.

The regulation adopted at the meeting defines a public place as "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."

The definition matches exactly the one laid out in Title 11 of Alaska 
Statutes, ABC Board Director Cynthia Franklin said after the meeting.

Recreational marijuana use became legal in Alaska Tuesday. Under the 
initiative's language, public consumption of marijuana is prohibited 
and subject to a citation up to $100. However, "public" is not 
defined, which has created confusion for public safety officers 
wondering about the parameters of the law they are tasked with enforcing.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is currently in charge of 
implementing the initiative.

Some localities, including Anchorage, have defined "public" through 
city ordinances.

The board also agreed to move forward in starting to craft 
regulations surrounding marijuana, Franklin said. That's despite a 
bill introduced in the Legislature that would create a separate 
Marijuana Control Board.

The ABC Board had procured a contract to hire a regulations writer, 
Franklin told the Board during Monday's meeting.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom