Massachusetts authorities approved the first regulations allowing cannabis lounges and other on-site pot consumption on Thursday, rewarding cannabis consumers and business owners who have spent years waiting for the new rules.

Voters allowed such establishments when they legalized recreational cannabis in 2016. But the regulations were delayed due to safety concerns, and then took years to develop.

In the meantime, the Massachusetts pot market grew into a billion-dollar-a-year industry. But while shoppers could purchase cannabis at hundreds of locations across the state, they could not enjoy it on-site, a practice known as social consumption allowed in 12 other states .

The Cannabis Control Commission took the most important step yet toward changing that with its stamp on the new regu

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