Fresno, CA Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

Chapter 10, Article 11, the Smoking Pollution Control Ordinance, defines "smoking" in Section 10-1103(l) as "inhaling, exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco or plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural or synthetic," plus use of an electronic vaping device or any device meant to circumvent the ban -- language broad enough to capture marijuana cigarettes, pipes, and cannabis vapes alongside tobacco. Section 10-1105 then prohibits that smoking in every "public place," defined in Section 10-1103(g) as an enclosed area the public is invited into or has general access to, and lists retail stores, restaurants, service businesses, health care facilities, hotels and motels, libraries and museums, theaters, sports and entertainment venues, convention halls, elevators, restrooms and lobbies, and polling places.

Narrow carve-outs exist: Section 10-1106 lets bars, tobacco shops, and private-function rooms permit smoking, and Section 10-1107 excludes private residences (unless run as a licensed public business), rented hotel rooms, billiard rooms, and stage performances. None of those carve-outs mention cannabis specifically, so a person smoking marijuana in a Fresno grocery store, restaurant, theater, or waiting room is smoking in violation of Section 10-1105 exactly as a cigarette smoker would be.