Fairbanks City Council members advanced an ordinance Monday that would set a hundred-dollar fine for consuming marijuana in a public place within city limits. The councilman who proposed the ordinance says it would give both police and the pot-consuming public a break.
Fairbanks City Councilman David Pruhs says he introduced the ordinance banning to give city police a more efficient way to enforce the ban on public pot smoking than the time-consuming process that would be required by enforcing a state law.
“Our police officers would be writing a ticket for the state, going to the courthouse, testifying for a district attorney who probably wouldn’t even both to show up for this case,” he said.
Pruhs says making public pot-smoking a minor offense punishable by a one-hundred-dollar fine will save cops hours of paperwork and preparation for courtroom testimony.
“Keep it on a parking-ticket level,” he said. “And that way, they can go directly to the city clerk’s office and pay it or if they want to appeal it they can take it to traffic court.”
Pruhs says the proposed city ordinance does not require smoking or consuming pot on private property to be done out-of-sight. That would differ from proposals by other local government officials, who say marijuana consumption should be allowed on private property, but not in a location where it can be seen by someone on a sidewalk or other public place.
Pruhs says the ordinance respects private-property rights. And it sets a penalty that’s proportionate to the offense.
“Do you want to waste a police officer's time and resources by having someone call and have an officer go there and knock on a door about something that’s the equivalent to a parking ticket?" he said. “My thought is no, we don’t.”
The council will hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance when it comes back for a second reading and possible passage on Feb. 23. That’s one day before the state law permitting personal use and possession of pot goes into effect.
