Pierce County, WA Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

PCC 14.08.060(M)(3) sits in the same subsection as the county's alcohol and smoking rules but is written more strictly: it is unlawful to open a package containing cannabis, useable cannabis, cannabis-infused products, or cannabis concentrates, or consume any of them, in the park system, and the section defines 'cannabis' by cross-reference to RCW 69.50.101. Unlike the alcohol rule in the same subsection, M.2, which lets a permitted banquet serve alcohol at a designated site, the cannabis rule in M.3 carries no such carve-out; there is no permit that authorizes cannabis consumption anywhere in Pierce County's park system, even where recreational cannabis is otherwise legal to possess under Washington law.

The ban covers every park, trail, boat launch and recreation facility managed by the Pierce County Parks and Recreation Department under Chapter 14.08, and it applies whether the cannabis is smoked, vaped, eaten as an infused product, or dabbed as a concentrate; simply opening the package is enough to violate the rule, separate from actually consuming it. Enforcement runs through the Director's staff and the Pierce County Sheriff's Department under PCC 14.08.130.