Cannabis ban considered for Minneapolis parks

Smoking cannabis in Minneapolis parks will likely be banned next year, but the Park Board’s commissioners are split on how severely to enforce the prohibition.

The proposal from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board would ban — but not criminalize — cannabis smoking or the vaping of THC products in parks and Park Board buildings, much as tobacco smoking is prohibited on park property.

A second proposal would regulate the sale of THC edibles and beverages on Park Board land by authorized vendors and during events. It would cap the potency of edibles and beverages sold by approved vendors at 5 milligrams of THC per serving and restrict the consumption of THC products purchased from park vendors to designated spaces, but it wouldn’t prohibit people from bringing and consuming their own THC drinks and edibles on park lands.

The Park Board on Monday posted an online survey for residents to weigh in on the proposals by Jan. 21, at which time the board’s nine commissioners will review the feedback and decide whether to implement the policies or make changes. The board is expected to hold a public hearing in March, according to its website.

Commissioners have discussed the issue for more than a year, offering a range of opinions. Some have been open to allowing smoking cannabis in parks, while others have expressed interest in adopting an ordinance that would allow police to issue petty misdemeanors with fines for smoking in the parks.

Such a policy change would mean that the public and park staffers would be responsible for asking those smoking in a park to leave. Offenders who refuse could then be arrested and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, Park Board President Meg Forney said.

When Minnesota legalized recreational marijuana in August 2023, the state did not prohibit smoking it in public spaces, unlike some other states. Instead, it allowed municipalities to develop their own rules and determine whether to prohibit or criminalize cannabis use in public. Some cities, such as St. Paul and Duluth, have already passed ordinances that ban smoking in parks.

Forney and Park Board Commissioner Tom Olsen said they support a policy as opposed to an ordinance, which they fear would lead to targeting and unfair enforcement against people of color, and wrongly reverting to criminalizing cannabis.

“With these sorts of enforcements, they’re kind of filled with racial bias quite often, so that’s something that I really want to avoid,” Olsen said.

Olsen said he was initially open to allowing cannabis use in parks but that after speaking with constituents and hearing from the board, he now supports the proposed policy banning it. He added that he doesn’t want someone to get a petty misdemeanor on their record, which could affect their job search or housing for “something that is relatively harmless and legal.”

Forney said she thinks it’s appropriate to prohibit smoking out of respect for others at the park. But she also said she’s confident a policy, rather than an ordinance, is the right direction to go.

“If we change it from a policy to an ordinance, all we’re doing is going back to what we had before, and that is definitely not the mission and attitude of our park system,” she said, adding that she had not heard complaints from the public about cannabis use in parks.

Commissioner Elizabeth Shaffer, however, said that she prefers an ordinance to a policy change. Shaffer said a policy change would be difficult to enforce and unfairly put the onus on members of the public or non-police staff members.

“There’s really no way to enforce that, other than to say, ‘Hey, did you know you’re not supposed to smoke in the park?’” she said.

Through the survey, Shaffer said she hopes to get a better sense of what the public prefers and some direction on whether to push for an ordinance.

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