Warwick, RI Public Conduct: Public Marijuana Use (2026)
Key Facts
- First offense fine
- $100.00
- Second offense fine
- Up to $250.00
- Third+ offense fine
- Up to $500.00
- Covered locations
- Parks, beaches, schools, public vehicles
- Enforcing agency
- Warwick Police Department
- Adopted
- Ord. No. O-23-19, Sept. 7, 2023
Summary
Warwick City Code Sec. 40-35 bans smoking or vaporizing cannabis in any public place, including outdoor common areas, parks, beaches, schools, recreational facilities and vehicles on public property or highways, as well as inside any licensed business. Fines escalate from $100 for a first offense to $500 for a third or later violation.
(a) As used in this chapter, "cannabis" shall be defined as in G.L. § 21-28.11-3. (b) Prohibition against smoking or vaporizing cannabis in public places. No person shall smoke or vaporize cannabis in public places, including outdoor common areas, parks, beaches, schools, school property, recreational facilities, motor vehicles on public property or highways, and other public spaces. (c) Prohibition against smoking or vaporizing cannabis in places of business. No person shall smoke or vaporize cannabis in any establishment, retail space or other space licensed or required to be licensed by the State of Rhode Island or the City of Warwick. (d) Violations; penalties; enforcement. Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter may be fined $100.00 for the first offense, up to $250.00 for the second offense, and up to $500.00 for the third or subsequent offense. All members of the police department are authorized to enforce the provisions of this section.
Full Breakdown
Adopted by Ord. No. O-23-19 on September 7, 2023, Sec. 11-3. Subsection (b) prohibits smoking or vaporizing cannabis in public places, and the section spells out that list rather than leaving it to inference: outdoor common areas, parks, beaches, schools, school property, recreational facilities, and motor vehicles on public property or highways, plus other public spaces generally. Subsection (c) adds a parallel prohibition inside places of business, covering any establishment or retail space that is licensed, or required to be licensed, by the State of Rhode Island or the City of Warwick, closing off both cannabis dispensaries and unrelated shops as smoking locations.
Subsection (d) sets the penalty ladder directly in the ordinance: a $100 fine for a first offense, up to $250 for a second, and up to $500 for a third or subsequent offense, and it authorizes every sworn member of the Warwick Police Department to enforce the section, rather than routing enforcement through a separate licensing or health department. The section sits immediately after Warwick's tobacco rules for schools (Sec. 40-30) and beaches (Sec. 40-56), giving the city three separate smoking-restriction sections that together cover schools, beaches and general public places for different substances.
Violations & Fines
Fines run $100 for a first offense, up to $250 for a second, and up to $500 for a third or subsequent offense under Sec. 40-35(d), enforced by any Warwick police officer on the spot in a park, beach, street, vehicle on public property, or licensed business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke cannabis on a Warwick beach or in a park?
Is vaping cannabis treated differently than smoking it?
What is the fine for a first cannabis-in-public ticket in Warwick?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Warwick
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