Burlington, WI Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

Chapter 135 of the City Code, Drugs and Drug Paraphernalia, makes it a municipal ordinance violation, not just a state crime, to 'carry, possess or attempt to possess' marijuana or Tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) anywhere in Burlington. Section 135-1 borrows its definitions of marijuana, THC, and controlled substance analogs directly from Wis. 01(4m), but because the prohibition is enacted as a City ordinance, Burlington police can issue a municipal citation for possession, including possession in a park, on a sidewalk, or anywhere else in the city, without the county district attorney filing a criminal charge.

The ordinance carves out the same exceptions state law recognizes: possession under a valid prescription from a practitioner acting within professional practice, or possession otherwise authorized under Ch. 961, Wis. Stats. The City maintains no separate ordinance targeting public consumption or smoking of marijuana specifically; enforcement instead proceeds under this general possession ban, which reaches use or possession wherever it occurs, public or private. Because the ordinance exists independently of the state statute, a municipal citation for marijuana possession in Burlington resolves in Municipal Court like a forfeiture case, rather than through the circuit court process used for a state criminal charge. 571, Wis. Stats.