Sterling Heights, MI Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)
Key Facts
- Section
- City Code § 35-65(A)(5)
- Prohibited
- consuming marihuana in a public place
- Public place defined
- § 35-64 (streets, parks, lots, businesses)
- Adult 21+ safe harbor
- possession only, not public consumption
- Penalty
- up to $500 fine, up to 93 days jail (§ 1-9)
Summary
Sterling Heights bans consuming marijuana in any public place under City Code § 35-65(A)(5), part of a longer list of prohibited acts that also bars smoking marijuana in a vehicle's passenger compartment on a public way and growing plants visible from public view. A violation defaults to the Code's general misdemeanor penalty: up to a $500 fine and 93 days in jail.
A person shall not: ... (5) Consume marihuana in a public place; (6) Smoke marihuana where prohibited by the person who owns, occupies, or manages the property; (7) Cultivate marihuana plants if the plants are visible from a public place without the use of binoculars, aircraft, or other optical aids or outside of an enclosed area equipped with locks or other functioning security devices that restrict access to the area; ... (9) Smoke marihuana within the passenger area of a vehicle upon a public way.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-46: Local legislation current through Ord. 509, passed 5-19-26).
Full Breakdown
Section 35-65(A) opens "A person shall not:" and lists eleven prohibited acts. 5 ounces or less, but that immunity from arrest, prosecution or penalty applies only to possession, use, purchase, transport and processing generally; it is not extended over the public-place consumption ban, since (B) is written "except as permitted by subsection (2)" for home cultivation and does not repeal (A)(5). No specific fine figure is printed for a simple (A)(5) violation the way it is for the under-18 school-grounds violation in (A)(10), a $500 municipal civil infraction reduced to $100 with a Police-Department-approved drug awareness program; the section instead closes with "Penalty, see § 1-9," pulling in the Code's general misdemeanor penalty.
Violations & Fines
A violation of § 35-65(A)(5) is a misdemeanor under the Code's general penalty at § 1-9(A): a fine of not more than $500, imprisonment not to exceed 93 days, or both. That is separate from the escalating municipal-civil-infraction fines the same section sets for exceeding possession limits, $500 for a first violation and $1,000 for a second under subsection (D), and separate from the $100 to $1,000 tiered fines for under-21 possession under subsection (E).
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke marijuana legally in a Sterling Heights park?
Does Michigan's adult-use law protect public consumption?
What's the penalty for smoking marijuana in public?
Can I smoke marijuana in my parked car?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sterling Heights
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How other cities in Macomb County handle public marijuana use.