Man Caught Smoking Weed in Multnomah County Courthouse

For a man caught smoking weed in Multnomah County Courthouse, the line between being brave and being dumb is fairly thin. In fact, it’s pretty much impossible to tell if this guy is an ultra-bold cannabis enthusiast, or if he’s just clueless. Either way, he created some entertaining confusion for the Oregon courtroom.

Smoking Weed In Court

Just this week, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video of the entire thing. Here’s what happened. A man who looked like he was in his thirties came into the courtroom.

He entered during a hearing about the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy in Portland. Suddenly, guards noticed the man put something in his mouth. It turns out, he’d just sparked up a joint and was now happily puffing away.

His surprise sesh didn’t last very long, though. Guards quickly approached him and told him he couldn’t smoke in public—especially not in a courtroom.

Courthouse Deputy Chris Payne was the one who ended up dealing with the joint-smoking man. He told local sources that he had to step through a cloud of weed smoke to get to him.

“I said, ‘Sir, you need to leave the courthouse now,'” Payne said. “He said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘You can’t smoke marijuana in public.’ And he said, ‘Oh, you can’t?'”

Not surprisingly, Payne said the guy was acting like he was already high. Payne added that the man seemed very surprised to learn that he wasn’t allowed to puff in the courtroom. Without too much fuss, the man put out his joint and left the courtroom.

The entire thing happened without creating very much disturbance to the court proceedings. In fact, Judge Cheryl Albrecht didn’t even know what had occurred.

She said she noticed some sort of commotion toward the back of the room, but didn’t think anything of it until a few minutes later when the smell of weed finally wafted up to her.

“A couple of minutes later, I just smelled this strong smell of marijuana, and I don’t know where it’s coming from,” she said. “Never have I seen anything like that.”

Final Hit: Man Caught Smoking Weed in Multnomah County Courthouse

Despite weed being fully legal in Oregon, this guy didn’t stand a chance of getting away with it. Oregon legalized recreational cannabis back in 2015. But even though it’s legal, you still can’t get high in public.

Under Oregon’s cannabis laws, adults 21 and over are allowed to possess as much as an ounce of weed. They can also grow four plants per household. But when it comes to consuming all that weed, Oregonians have to stick to private spaces.

Even though the man caught smoking weed in Multnomah County Courthouse was violating that rule, he was not punished. After leaving the courthouse, he wasn’t heard from further.

The guard who busted up his sesh said he was more focused on supervising the people directly involved with the case than on trying to punish the gutsy—or ignorant—smoker.