Pittsburgh City Council to consider marijuana decriminalization bill

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City Councilman Daniel Lavelle is scheduled to introduce legislation today that will allow city police to issue a fine instead of a misdemeanor summons for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana or eight grams of hashish. The ordinance, which sets a civil fine of up to $100, allows officers to seize the drugs and means Pittsburgh will join a “growing trend of local municipalities enacting similar laws to protect its citizens,” Mr. Lavelle’s office said in a news release.

“Approximately 1,000 individuals are charged with a misdemeanor-level marijuana possessory offense in Pittsburgh annually,” the release says. “Almost all have the criminal charge reduced to a non-traffic summary citation at the first stage of criminal proceedings.”

Patrick Nightingale, a local criminal defense lawyer and executive director of the Pittsburgh chapter of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which campaigns against cannabis prohibition, said his organization...

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