ATHENS, Clarke County — Editors note: The ordinance passed, but Athens had to hold the fine at $35 instead of $1
Athens-Clarke County commissioners are taking steps to decriminalize marijuana in the community.
On Tuesday at a special called session meeting, commissioners proposed a new local ordinance that would decriminalize the possession of marijuana amounts that are less than one ounce.
Athens Clarke County District 5 Commissioner Tim Denson told 11Alive that if passed, the penalty will be known as a citation and a $1 fine. He said this will help to lower the number of unnecessary people in jail.
"Many of us on the commission did felt that we should not be criminalizing marijuana here in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, especially when it's legalized in so much of the country," Denson said.
However, Athens community members pushed back on the proposal, calling marijuana a gateway drug. Denson said a lot of the opinions were debunked by science.
"In my opinion, we did not hear any kind of valid arguments for why we should not do this," he said. "And again, there are many valid arguments on why we should. So there are some communities out there who are concerned and some of them talking about the fact that we have these issues with fentanyl going on."
He said that argument is why the measure should pass -- adding that it could free up law enforcement resources to take more dangerous drugs off the streets.
"Our law enforcement officers can focus more on those harmful, dangerous drugs like fentanyl and heroin, and try to actually cut down on the uses of those drugs rather than getting distracted with focusing on, again, low-level amounts under an ounce of marijuana," Denson said.
Denson said he knows of at least two other commissioners who are in favor of the proposal. They'll vote on the measure on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
