Savannah leaders vote to decriminalize marijuana. Here’s what that means for offenders

The punishment for some possession of marijuana offenders in the city of Savannah will be reduced, thanks to a city council vote on Thursday afternoon.

A first-time misdemeanor offender will now be issued a fine of at most $150 and a ticket, where before the suspect would have been arrested and taken to jail, according to Savannah Morning News. A drug treatment facility or program will be supported by 20 percent of the fine revenue devoted to just that.

According to the new law, if the fine cannot be paid, convicted first-time misdemeanor possession offenders with one ounce or less of marijuana can serve community service instead. Imprisonment for any amount of time will not be allowed under these circumstances.

“Until we have a criminal justice system that is equal and sees people equally and administers the law equally, then we have to do what we can to remedy those kinds of problems,” said Alderman Van Johnson, who proposed the change, according to WTOC.

The only council member to vote against the proposal was Alderman Brian Foster.

“The message that we would be sending as a city is that this is a drug city and that you need to come to Savannah to buy your marijuana and smoke it here,” Foster said, according to WTOC.

The law goes into effect on July 1, 2018. It is only for the city of Savannah and does not apply to Chatham County as a whole.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Savannah leaders vote to decriminalize marijuana. Here’s what that means for offenders."