(KNSI) — Waite Park is holding off making any decision on banning the use of marijuana and other cannabis products in public while it’s being discussed at the county level.
Waite Park City Administrator Shaunna Johnson talked with KNSI News moments after Monday night’s work session ended and said if Stearns County commissioners approve the ban, it would include Waite Park. “We’re going to take a wait-and-see approach. I think the council feels that they would like to see smoking be banned in public places. So if we need to, if the county doesn’t take any action, we’ll probably have this discussion again in another work session to decide where to go with it.”
When the Stearns County Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday morning, it could 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.”
The city council also discussed the possibility of putting in a moratorium, but Johnson said the council decided that would be putting the cart in front of the horse. “Because the [state] office of cannabis [management] isn’t going to be open for at least a year, the consensus from our attorney was that there was really no need to put a moratorium in place. Some have felt the need to put a moratorium in place because if that process goes faster, then they want to make sure that they have enough adequate time.”
Johnson told KNSI News that if the office that licenses cannabis products for the state gets up and running early, the council can come together to pass a moratorium.
The Stearns County Board of Commissioners gets underway at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
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