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

Fitchburg City Code § 70-122, adopted under the authority Wis. Stat. § 66.0107 gives municipalities to prohibit possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana, makes it unlawful for anyone in the City of Fitchburg, Dane County, Wisconsin, to possess or use marijuana. The ordinance defines marijuana broadly as all parts of the Cannabis Sativa L. plant, whether growing or not, its seeds, the resin extracted from any part of it, and every compound, derivative or preparation made from the plant, its seeds or resin, while excluding mature stalks, fiber from the stalks, and sterilized, non-germinating seed. The prohibition on possession and use applies unless the marijuana was obtained directly from, or under a valid prescription or order of, a licensed practitioner acting within their professional practice, or unless some other state statute authorizes it.

Because the ordinance is citywide, it reaches consumption in public places, streets, parks and other locations open to view just as much as private possession, giving Fitchburg police a local citation option alongside the underlying state drug law. The city's own forfeiture table at Sec. 70-309 splits the fine sharply by age: a $1.00 forfeiture for possession by someone 21 years of age or older, and a $200.00 forfeiture for possession by someone under 21. That gap reflects the city's own policy choice within its statutory authority to set local marijuana forfeitures, separate from the harsher penalties under Wisconsin's state THC-possession statute. This is the City of Fitchburg in Dane County, south of Madison, not Fitchburg, Massachusetts.