North Hempstead, NY Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

North Hempstead's Town Board rewrote Chapter 57, 'Town Facilities,' in its entirety on December 16, 2021, adding Article II specifically to address cannabis alongside tobacco. ' Section 57-12 defines 'cannabis' broadly to cover the plant, its seeds, resin and every derivative, and folds cannabis directly into the definition of 'smoking': inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe, or any other lighted tobacco product, cannabis, or any other lighted substance intended for inhalation. The same chapter defines 'Town property' to include the Town dock, Town beaches and parks, Department of Public Works facilities and the Town Halls, along with all the surrounding driveways, parking areas and grounds.

Section 57-13 then applies flatly across all of that ground: no person shall smoke or vape on Town property. There is no exception carved out for cannabis specifically, and no permit or designated smoking area is authorized anywhere in the article. Section 57-14 sets the penalty for any violation of Article II, tobacco, vaping or cannabis alike, at a civil penalty not exceeding $25, a far lighter sanction than the criminal violations found elsewhere in Chapter 57's parking and vehicle provisions. Because the ban runs to all Town-owned or leased land, a person caught smoking a joint at a Town beach, dock, park or Town Hall parking lot is subject to the same $25 civil citation as someone smoking a cigarette in the same spot.