Lakewood, WA Public Conduct: Outdoor Smoking Restrictions (2026)

LMC 8.76.168, added by Ordinance 579 in 2014 and amended by Ordinance 715 in 2019, states flatly that no person shall smoke, vape or use any form of tobacco within City parks, covering all Lakewood park and recreation-area property, not just enclosed structures. The provision sits in Article III of Chapter 8.76, the article covering rules governing use of park facilities. LMC 8.76.570 fixes the penalty for any act prohibited by Article II or III of the chapter, including 8.76.168, as a civil infraction punishable by a fine of no more than $125.00.

Separately, LMC 8.76.590 lets Parks Department staff or police order a person out of a park for violating any park rule, with loss of park privileges and ejection on top of the fine. This park-specific ban is distinct from Lakewood's older general smoking law, LMC Chapter 8.44, which regulates smoking inside enclosed indoor public places, city workplaces and restaurants (with designated indoor smoking areas allowed in some settings) and is enforced through the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department with civil fines up to $100 for a first offense and up to $500 for intentional employer noncompliance; Chapter 8.44 does not reach outdoor park grounds or patios, which is why the parks-specific 8.76.168 exists as the operative outdoor rule.

Lakewood is a city in Pierce County, Washington; this rule governs city park property inside Lakewood and has no effect on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the adjoining federal installation.