Reading, PA Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

Ordinance No. 45-2025, adopted July 28, 2025, created Chapter 360 to decriminalize small-scale marijuana activity within city limits while still banning public use. Section 360-103 makes it unlawful for any person to smoke or consume marijuana or hashish of any amount in a public space, but classifies the act as a civil offense rather than a crime, punishable by a flat $150 civil fine per offense. Separately, Section 360-102 decriminalizes possession of a small amount of marijuana, defined in Section 360-101 as 30 grams or less of marijuana or 8 grams or less of hashish, setting civil fines of $50 for a first offense (paired with mandatory enrollment in the Council on Chemical Abuse's Marijuana Diversion Program), $100 for a second offense, and $150 for a third or subsequent offense.

Section 360-104 sends any minor cited under the chapter to a diversion or youth-services program instead of a fine, at the Reading Police Department's discretion, and gives adults a diversion option for a first offense and a discretionary option for later offenses, though the fine still applies to repeat adult offenders. Section 360-105 puts enforcement in the hands of the Reading Police Department through civil citations only, without arrest, detention, or the creation of a criminal record. Section 360-106 clarifies the ordinance does not authorize conduct that remains illegal under state or federal law and frames the whole chapter as an exercise of the City's Home Rule authority to exercise discretion in enforcement and penalty-setting within the City of Reading boundaries.