Duluth bans smoking — cannabis, vapes and cigarettes — in city parks

DULUTH - Duluth has banned smoking — from pot to vapes and cigarettes — in all city parks, and is close to lessening the fine for violating the new ordinance.

The City Council approved an ordinance Monday night that leaves people with sidewalks and streets when it comes to smoking in public. A meeting last month drew plenty of opposition from residents, many concerned about the high cost of a potential fine at $300 and the effect on low-income residents without private property.

Minnesota's new recreational marijuana law lays out where people can smoke cannabis, which is private property and on the premises of businesses or at events licensed for on-site consumption, but doesn't say where it cannot be smoked, leaving cities to make their own decisions.

Councilor Roz Randorf on Monday said she wanted to protect clean air for park users, including children and people with health conditions.

"People can choose to smoke, but they have no right to force others to smoke along with you," she said.

The council is among the first in the state to approve such a ban. The new ordinance doesn't prohibit smoking completely, however, allowing promoters and others to apply for permits for events held in parks, much the same way they can apply for permits to serve alcohol. It also doesn't extend to other cannabis products, such as gummies.

Councilor Azrin Awal was the lone holdout, saying she wasn't comfortable with what she perceived as taking away a newly given right.

"I am nervous about the impact on Black and brown communities and low-income communities, especially on the enforcement side," she said, noting less than 10 cigarette smoking citations were given out by Duluth police in a three-year period in parts of the city that previously banned tobacco smoking.

An amendment to lower the smoking violation fine was tabled to sort through details, but councilors seemed amenable to a first violation likely to land between $25 and $75.

Duluth's nearly 130 parks range from the popular 8-mile Lakewalk to Spirit Mountain, Wade Stadium and Lester Park.