The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday unanimously approved regulations to allow for legal marijuana use in public settings.

The decision clears the way for cannabis businesses to offer social consumption of their products on-site. That means people could use marijuana at “pot cafes,” dispensaries, lounges or even places like yoga studios and theaters. Regulations also allow for “temporary consumption events,” like festivals, where cannabis can be consumed legally.

Among the safeguards put in place by the regulations: Social consumption sites must have a rideshare plan, they cannot serve alcohol with cannabis and they must also have food and water available.

But when could these pot cafes actually open?

“That’s a difficult question to answer,” commission chair Shannon O’Brien told WBZ-TV’s Louisa Moller in an exclusive interview this week. “There have been estimates from anywhere from a year to 18 months.”

The first available social consumption licenses would be reserved for members of the commission’s social equity program.

The commission says the next step will be working with local leaders, who don’t have to allow pot cafes in their town if they don’t want them. 

“They have a significant hand in making sure it fits with the sort of local nature and culture of that community,” O’Brien said.

Massachusetts voters approved the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2016 and is one of 11 states were social consumption is legal. But the process to set up a permitting system has been a long one and much anticipated by the business community. 

“Tourists always ask, where can I smoke this? Where can I consume this?” said Brian Keith, the founder of Boston’s Rooted In dispensary. “So, I think being able to say we can do it right here on site, that absolutely helps our business and I think it helps other cannabis dispensaries as well.”