Complaints from residents prompted the Village of Mamaroneck to consider banning smoking or vaping marijuana in public parks and other outdoor spaces.
But after passing the idea around at its Monday, May 11, meeting, village trustees decided that while marijuana smoke may be annoying, a ban that comes with a $250 fine and a maximum 15 days in jail might be the wrong vibe.
Instead, the village is considering adding vaping or smoking marijuana to its existing ban on smoking cigars and cigarettes in public spaces outdoors.
“It’s not Dirty Dancing,” trustee Dan Kushnick joked Tuesday, a reference to the 1987 film in which provocative dancing was frowned upon. “We’re not banning all the fun in Mamaroneck.”
The discussion was prompted by complaints about marijuana smoke wafting through a public parking lot, raising questions about whether police should intercede before someone gets into a car and drives away impaired, Kushnick said.
The 2021 state law legalizing marijuana use for those 21 and older made clear it’s still illegal to use marijuana when operating a motor vehicle. And, according to the state’s office of Cannabis Management, smoking or vaping marijuana is prohibited anywhere where smoking tobacco is banned. In 2022, the state passed a law banning smoking cannabis and tobacco in all state parks and other outdoor spaces.
Mamaroneck village attorney drafts law
Mamaroneck’s attorney drafted a proposed law that would ban marijuana smoke from a variety of open public spaces, including sidewalks, parking garages, playgrounds, a beach, recreation areas and schoolyards, to name a few.
Smoking outdoors on private property, like a backyard, would be OK.
“We already have no smoking in the code,” he said. “Basically, marijuana is legal so you can’t ban that per se. But we’re really trying to keep it out of the parks, away from kids and the overall secondhand smoke that goes along with smoking in public. It would be a little difficult to enforce.”
The 2021 law did allow municipalities to enact stricter regulations for outdoor smoking. And some, like the city of Glen Cove on Long Island, already have. There, individuals caught smoking marijuana in public face a $100 fine for the first offense and $250 for subsequent offenses.
Kushnick gets why people are bothered by marijuana smoke. He’s sensitive to cigarette smoke.
But, he says, a ban is likely to have little impact.
“People are going to do what they do,” Kushnick said. “But I guess people feel better that it’s on the books.”
Mayor Sharon Torres, Deputy Mayor Nora Lucas and trustee Maria DeRose could not immediately be reached for comment. Trustee Ellen Silver was traveling for a graduation and did not attend Monday’s meeting. She declined to comment until she researches the issue.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mamaroneck considers banning pot smoke outdoors after complaints
Reporting by Thomas C. Zambito, New York State Team / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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