Alaska Weighing Rules to Allow Use of Pot At Licensed Stores

Alaska could soon become the first state in the nation to allow on-site consumption of marijuana in some businesses that will sell pot.

While it's still not certain what they will look like, the legal pot stores are more likely to resemble a sample room at a high-end brewery than a dark and seedy dive bar.

Rules governing use were being hammered out by state regulators meeting Wednesday in Anchorage.

The first marijuana businesses aren't expected to be licensed until September - near the end of cruise ship season and a bit too late to cash in on tourism this year.

The Marijuana Control Board planned to consider Wednesday how to separate consumption areas in stores. There's also a question of what would happen to the marijuana products people buy to smoke or eat on the premises but don't finish.

Any recommendations would be subject to public comment.

A tentative timeline suggests the first licenses for cultivation and testing could be approved in June, with the first retail and product manufacturing facility licenses approved later in the year.

State lawmakers last week approved legislation allowing for national criminal history checks on license applicants. That bill will go to Gov. Bill Walker for consideration.