With cannabis now legal in Minnesota, Hutchinson City Council is faced with the task of how, and if, to regulate it.
City Administrator Matt Jaunich reminded the council during its July 25 meeting the new law allows public smoking, and urged members to consider creating regulations.
“It’s going to come down to as policy makers, what do you want?” Jaunich said. “How many do you want to see? How many do you want in your city? How many establishments? Where do they go and where can people smoke in public? Those are for the most part really the only three things that you guys (City Council) have a say in. I guess the fourth would be is if we’re going to want to get into the business of it at some point.”
The new law, which went into effect on Aug. 1, makes Minnesota the 23rd state to legalize the use of recreational cannabis and the fourth state to allow public smoking.
Hutchinson does not regulate tobacco use in public, except for the restriction of no-smoking 15 feet from an entrance.
“We have an option of doing a moratorium … I think we’ll just have to look at our zoning code,” Jaunich said.
Council member Pat May thought the city should at least publicize what the city’s code is, so residents could be better informed.
Mayor Gary Forcier asked Police Chief Tom Gifferson if and how police can test for driving under the influence of cannabis.
Gifferson noted that there are no specific laws or test that can lead to an arrest based solely on cannabis use.
“As part of our standardized field sobriety testing that we already provide, there is a section on drug impairment and there are some physical tests that can be run, but it’s only giving you a few minor indicators. It’s not an absolute type of thing,” he said.
City officials are closely monitoring how other cities are responding to the legalization. Some municipalities have started implementing regulations on public smoking to address potential challenges.
“Do we want to regulate this and to what level? We can put limits on the amount of establishments, we can put regulations and zoning, we could put regulations on where in public (people) can smoke,” Jaunich said.
