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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, September 11, 2023 <br /> Page 3 <br /> in a sense. He noted he would still like to know from the Police Depai talent how <br /> this is going to be enforced and handled. <br /> Councilmember Schroeder agreed with the comments. She has been walking <br /> through the parks and a couple of times watched people sitting on the bench with <br /> their flowered Cannabis out there getting ready to smoke it as children walked by. <br /> She is seeing that already so she would like the City to do something to prevent <br /> that. She liked the idea of including tobacco,but she also considers this to be very <br /> similar to alcohol as in what it does to a person. She would want to make sure that <br /> if the City is prohibiting alcohol, Cannabis should be prohibited as well as a use in <br /> the parks or wherever. She would also like to take some time in the future to fine <br /> tune this,but thought something needed to be put in place to start with. She thought <br /> this was a work in process. <br /> Mayor Roe summarized the discussion the Council had indicating the notion was <br /> to put something in place and use the racial equity toolkit as conversation continues <br /> going forward. <br /> Mayor Roe thought the Council needed to talk about where this is handled in the <br /> Code. He noted the alcohol prohibition is strictly in the discussion of parks and is <br /> the only place in the City where there is a prohibition on the use of alcohol. He <br /> thought this discussion was a little broader than that so he did not know if it would <br /> be placed in the same section of the code. But, if the Council starts to talk about <br /> treating similar products, similar ways, then does the Council need to think about <br /> also restricting alcohol consumption in some of those same areas? <br /> Councilmember Strahan thought it felt like two different issues, not because these <br /> things are different because handling this all as one seems pretty large and does not <br /> give the Council a chance to make all the consideration. Also,this is not something <br /> that the City shared may be a possibility so there maybe people in the public that <br /> have an opinion would want to be heard. Because time is of the essence with the <br /> new State law in place,she would be inclined to move forward with what was talked <br /> about in regard to Cannabis and potentially smoking and to rethink, as the Council <br /> continues this discussion, about alcohol restrictions. She did not think it was a bad <br /> idea and she thought it would be good to have it in City Code, rather than just in <br /> the parks path as it makes it easier for everyone if there is a consistent application. <br /> Mayor Roe indicated prohibition of alcohol is in the Code and part of the law as it <br /> applies to parks, as far as consumption,but it does not apply broader than parks. <br /> Councilmember Strahan was not sure there needed to be a change,but thought there <br /> was an opportunity for the Council to review and evaluate to make sure it is <br /> appropriate. <br />