Haverhill, MA Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

Section 189-14 of the Peace and Good Order chapter prohibits smoking, vaporizing, ingesting or otherwise consuming marijuana, medical marijuana or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on any public way or way the public may use, any place the public may enter as an invitee or licensee, any park, playground or recreation area, or in a schoolhouse or on school grounds owned by the City of Haverhill (§ 189-14A). For a first offense away from school property, § 189-14B sets a $100 civil fine handled through the noncriminal disposition process of MGL c.

40, § 21D and § 1-16B(1) of the City Code. Any violation that happens in a schoolhouse or on school grounds, or any second or later offense anywhere covered by the section, exposes the violator to a $300 fine and criminal prosecution instead of the civil track. Section 189-14C spells out what happens if someone cited for a first offense ignores the noncriminal process: if the person fails to pay the fine by the deadline, or appears before the district court clerk but will not admit the violation or pay after a hearing under MGL c.

40, § 21D, the citing police officer decides whether to seek a criminal complaint. The ordinance sits within Chapter 189, Peace and Good Order, alongside the City's separate ban on gatherings of more than 10 people adopted during the 2020 pandemic emergency (§ 189-15) and its ban on synthetic cannabinoid sales (§ 189-13), both enforced by the Haverhill Police Department.