Waite Park to Consider Ordinance Banning Public Consumption of Marijuana, Moratorium on Sales

(KNSI) — The Waite Park City Council is holding a work session on Monday, August 7th, to discuss a possible ordinance surrounding the use of recreational marijuana in public spaces and a moratorium on the sales of cannabis products in the city.

City Attorney Paul Storm looked over the law, which allows use at home and on private property with permission, but it is illegal to use marijuana anywhere that smoke or vapor could be inhaled by minors. In a memo to the City Council, he says, “It is my opinion that this prohibition would allow the city to prohibit use in public park areas for the time being. An ordinance is still prudent for the city to consider.”

In a draft of the ordinance, it would be illegal to use marijuana, cannabis products, edibles and hemp derived consumer products on public property maintained by the City of Waite Park. The memo defines public property to include all areas within the city boundaries, with some exceptions that generally follow state law. Anyone caught breaking the law would be given a petty misdemeanor ticket and fined up to $300.

It is already illegal to drink alcohol in parks and public spaces.

The Stearns County Board of Commissioners is also going to take up an ordinance that largely mirrors what Waite Park is hoping to enact, which would ban the use of cannabis flower, products, edibles and “other hemp derived products in a public place or a place of public accommodation “unless the premises is an establishment or an event licensed to permit on-site consumption of adult-use cannabis flower and adult use cannabis products.”

It would cover the whole county except for “cities of the first class, and those cites or townships that have adopted their own ordinance establishing standards for public use of cannabis.”

In July, the City of St. Cloud banned smoking and vaping in all parks, parking lots, sports facilities, recreation facilities, and park roads. The ban includes marijuana.

The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management is still being set up, so licensed dispensaries are more than a year away. Because of this, Waite Park will also consider a moratorium on the sales of cannabis products until they have had adequate time to review the community impact.

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