The Latest: Alaska nixes marijuana use at pot shops

JUNEAU, Alaska – The Latest on Alaska’s turning down a proposal to allow onsite consumption at marijuana retail stores (all times local):

1:49 p.m.

Alaska marijuana regulators have rejected a proposal to allow authorized retail pot shops to have areas where customers could consume marijuana products.

The nation’s northernmost state on Thursday had been poised to become the first in the nation to allow onsite consumption.

But Sara Chambers, the acting director of Alaska’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office, told board members the public notice for the onsite consumption proposal was not done properly.

The board had several options, including re-advertising it for another 30 days or deciding not to advance the proposal. They rejected advancing the measure on a 3-2 vote.

Board member Mark Springer worried how the Trump administration might view marijuana, which remains illegal at the federal level.

He urged Alaska to go slowly on considering whether to allow marijuana consumption in retail outlets.

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12:00 a.m.

Marijuana regulators in Alaska are poised to consider rules allowing authorized retail pot shops to have areas where customers could light up.

It’s an idea the Marijuana Control Board has been mulling since late 2015, but it has yet to finalize rules for allowing onsite use of marijuana products. The issue is expected to be raised during a Thursday board meeting in Juneau.

Alaska stands to be the first state to allow onsite use.

Alaska voters approved legalizing recreational marijuana for those 21 and over in 2014. But it has taken time to write the rules and for the industry to begin establishing itself.

The first license for a legal pot business was issued last June, to a testing facility. The first retail shops opened last fall. Recreational marijuana is legal in seven other states and the District of Columbia