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City of Alpena working to amend marijuana legislation

City of Alpena Mayor, Matt Waligora, explains changes being made to legislation regarding marijuana consumption

Alpena, Mich — The City of Alpena has new legislation in the works that places restrictions on the sale and use of marijuana in public places.

Mayor Matt Waligora offered some insight into what the new regulations would mean for residents.

One ordinance presented at the city council meeting on Monday, prohibits all forms of marijuana consumption in public places, but some city council members brought up valid points about medicinal marijuana.

Councilwoman Amber Hess said in the meeting Monday, “When someone is taking medicine, that may mean in pill form. If they’re having an edible, that could mean medicinal or recreational. I don’t feel that it’s our position to say that they can’t consume that in a public place.”

The council members took Hess’s point into consideration, and opted to amend the ordinance.

Mayor Waligora states, “It’s the way it was written on Monday…we’re having it revised because it encompassed consuming it whatsoever, and we feel it would probably be better if we just banned the open consumption – the things that bother other people in the vicinity and things that normalize it for children, like smoking it or vaping it. But the other forms that there are for medical marijuana, we don’t really want to inhibit people from being able to do that.”

Mayor Waligora says things may change in the future, but for now, the laws will stand.

The amended legislation will be presented at next week’s city council meeting.