Arizona Senate Bill Would Ban ‘Excessive’ Cannabis Smoke

[image: Smoke drifts upwards inside of a dark room.]

An Arizona Senate committee last week advanced a proposal seeking to create
a new misdemeanor crime for excessive cannabis smoke and odor, 13 News
reports.

The bill, SB1725, would treat the issue as a public nuisance concern,
making it a class 3 misdemeanor to cause or create “excessive” cannabis
smoke — even on private residential property. Another bill, SCR1048, seeks
to put an identical proposal before voters as a ballot initiative.

Neither bill explicitly defines what “excessive” means in the context of
what qualifies as a public nuisance. The bill does, however, state that “it
is presumed that a person who creates excessive marijuana smoke and odor
causes a condition that endangers the safety or health of others.”

The bills’ sponsor, state Sen. J.D. Mesnard (R), said the proposal is not
looking to solve “some sort of major crime issue, but it is trying to
highlight what has become a growing problem.”

Mesnard said that he’s encountered the issue at his own home, having
detected the smell of cannabis smoke outside of his childrens’ bedroom
windows.

“If we’re going to have recreational marijuana in Arizona, we need to be
responsible about it, especially as it could impact kids.” — Mesnard, in a
statement

The Senate Judiciary and Elections Committee voted 5-2 to advance the
proposal on Friday.