Rochester Hills, MI Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)

Section 70-277, adopted by Ordinance No. 470 on April 24, 2002 and never repealed, states in subsection (a) that except as authorized by state law, it is unlawful for any person to use or possess marijuana in Rochester Hills. Because the section defers to 'state law,' its current reach is narrower than in 2002: Michigan's Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, approved by voters in November 2018, authorizes adults 21 and older to possess limited amounts of marijuana and to use it on private property.

That state authorization does not extend to consuming marijuana in public, so section 70-277's ban still applies to public use, to possession or use by anyone under 21, and to any quantity or manner of use the state act does not cover. Subsection (b) sets the penalty directly in the section rather than relying on the Code's general penalty clause: a person convicted of violating 'this article' is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00, imprisonment not to exceed 90 days, or both, at the court's discretion.

The Oakland County Sheriff's Office, which patrols Rochester Hills under contract with the city, is the enforcing agency for the section, and section 1-15's continuing-offense rule means separate days of unauthorized possession or use can be charged as distinct offenses. The section sits in Chapter 70, Article V ('Offenses Against Public Morals'), immediately following the drug paraphernalia division, and has not been amended since its 2002 adoption despite the intervening changes in state marijuana law.