Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

Athens CARE (Campaign for Access, Reform and Education) and Georgia CARE rallied outside City Hall on Tuesday in an effort to convince the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission to decriminalize marijuana possession. Flagpole photographer Joshua L. Jones was there:

The group presented county officials with a “parallel ordinance” that they say would allow local police to merely issue a ticket to anyone caught with small amounts of marijuana.

Under state law, the punishment for possession of less than one ounce, a misdemeanor, is up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, but typically offenders are given probation and community service.

Although Mayor Nancy Denson and several commissioners have said they are sympathetic to CARE’s concerns, ACC Attorney Bill Berryman has advised them that a local “parallel ordinance” can’t supersede state law.