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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."