FAIRBANKS — Another Alaska municipality is holding off on establishing local rules for marijuana consumption until regulators work out details at the state level.
The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly voted Thursday to place a three-month moratorium on cannabis cafes outside cities in the borough, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Friday.
“I feel like we are operating in a vacuum right now,” said Assemblyman Matt Cooper, who proposed the moratorium. “We don’t know what the final regulations are going to look like.”
Assembly members will consider a proposed ordinance setting zoning rules for cannabis cafes, where patrons could buy small amounts of pot for on-site consumption.
The Alaska Marijuana Control Board has proposed regulations allowing cannabis cafes that are attached to retail pot stores.
Under the Fairbanks borough’s proposed zoning rules, cannabis cafes could open only after notification of neighbors, a public hearing and approval from the planning commission.
The borough’s delay in setting rules applies only outside the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole, which have marijuana regulatory powers of their own.
The assembly could also vote to ban cannabis cafes and last month heard public testimony on a proposed ban. Most people who attended expressed support for pot cafes as safe alternatives to bars and good for tourism.
The city of Kodiak this month delayed drafting marijuana regulations until the state takes action on issues related to the transportation of pot to marijuana testing facilities.
Kodiak Island has no marijuana testing facility and marijuana would have to be transported to a lab by boat or plane to comply with state testing laws. But air and water transportation of pot is illegal under federal law.
