The Latest: New residency definition for marijuana licenses

JUNEAU — The latest on the Marijuana Control Board meeting on residency requirement for legal pot business licenses (all times local):

10:55 a.m.

The Marijuana Control Board has adopted a stricter definition of residency for future applicants for legal pot businesses.

The board, which is tasked with writing rules for Alaska’s recreational marijuana industry, met briefly Tuesday.

It scuttled a rule adopted last month that would use the residency requirements needed to vote in Alaska, which were considered more lax. Instead, the board approved using the definition that needed to qualify for a dividend from Alaska’s oil wealth fund. That definition includes being a resident of the state for a full calendar year.

The board’s director had questioned the ability of the board’s limited staff to verify that applicants aren’t registered to vote elsewhere.

Meanwhile, an attorney for the board said a proposal that would have allowed for limited outside investment in licensed pot businesses was outside the scope of the meeting.

___

3:35 a.m.

The board tasked with writing rules for Alaska’s recreational marijuana industry is set to discuss and possibly change residency requirements for pot business licenses Tuesday morning in Anchorage.

On Nov. 20, the Marijuana Control Board approved using the residency requirements needed to vote in Alaska. That means living here and intending to stay or leaving the state with the intent to return. One also couldn’t be registered to vote elsewhere.

This was meant to be less restrictive than an earlier proposal to use the same residency requirements as those needed to qualify for a dividend from Alaska’s oil wealth fund.

But the board’s director questioned the ability of the board’s limited staff to verify that applicants aren’t registered to vote elsewhere.

Industry supporters are worried about limiting too severely who can participate.

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