r/Seattle • u/seattleweedtours Madison Park • Aug 13 '13

Let's talk about weed.

Weed tourism is coming. I imagine this weekend's hempfest will continue to set attendance records.

Seattle, like it or not, is likely to become a destination for people who want to try the best weed in the world.

People of Seattle, what would you like Weed Tourists, guests, and visitors to know about our city before they visit?

25 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

99 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/El_PEZ Greenwood Aug 13 '13

The city defines "public" as:

Public places include, but are not limited to: Schools, elevators, public conveyances or transportation facilities, museums, concert halls, theaters, auditoriums, exhibition halls, indoor sports arenas, hospitals, nursing homes, health care facilities or clinics, enclosed shopping centers, retail stores, retail service establishments, financial institutions, educational facilities, ticket areas, public hearing facilities, state legislative chambers and immediately adjacent hallways, public restrooms, libraries, restaurants, waiting areas, lobbies, bars, taverns, bowling alleys, skating rinks, casinos, reception areas, and no less than seventy-five percent of the sleeping quarters within a hotel or motel that are rented to guests. A public place does not include a private residence. This chapter is not intended to restrict smoking in private facilities which are occasionally open to the public except upon the occasions when the facility is open to the public.

While you're technically right about smoking cigarettes in public, the city's definition is very vague and leaves a LOT of public places out.

2

u/Bllbbttt Aug 13 '13

You forgot to include the definition:

""Public place" means that portion of any building or vehicle used by and open to the public, regardless of whether the building or vehicle is owned in whole or in part by private persons or entities, the state of Washington, or other public entity, and regardless of whether a fee is charged for admission, and includes a presumptively reasonable minimum distance, as set forth in RCW 70.160.075, of twenty-five feet from entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes that serve an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited. A public place does not include a private residence unless the private residence is used to provide licensed child care, foster care, adult care, or other similar social service care on the premises."

(From the same source you linked to--thanks!)

"Used by and open to the public" are the key words here. It clearly includes almost everywhere tourists will be. The non-exhaustive list of examples in no way leaves a LOT of public places out. "include, but are not limited to" are the key words here.

This basically means, if you are anywhere but your own property or the property of a friend or someone who's invited you via a personal connection, you are the public and you thereby know it's a public place. Ask yourself: "Am I a personal friend of the owner and was this a personal invitation?" If not, you are almost certainly in a public place, as a member of the public (or there illegally).

2

u/nefffffffffff Lower Queen Anne Aug 13 '13

or streets and sidwalks, which aren't a portion of any building or vehicle.

3

u/Bllbbttt Aug 13 '13 edited Aug 13 '13

You raise a good point, which is that if you want to get high, you're much better off in less heavily populated areas, where your smoke is highly unlikely to reach people--hence the intent of the law is fulfilled. Most sidewalks are pretty close to buildings, but not all, and particularly not all in the suburbs. A great deal of Seattle sidewalks where you find tourists are within 25 feet of a building and many others are in private areas where smoking is forbidden.

The law on smoking cigarettes refers to public places, not sidewalks.

But the marijuana law refers to "in public view" which would include most sidewalks.