The city's interim police chief plans to issue a directive ordering officers to file charges under Columbus' lenient marijuana possession law rather than under state law except when more serious violations, like those involving weapons, are also found.

With less than three weeks before a more lenient city marijuana ordinance takes effect, Columbus interim Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said he will issue a directive ordering his department to use only the new law in all cases involving simple possession of the drug.

But in cases where suspects face more serious, additional charges on top of possessing pot, officers will be instructed to use the tougher state penalties, Quinlan said. Serious violations could include breaking the concealed-carry gun law or being wanted on a warrant, Quinlan said.


"The short of it is I intend to issue a directive that if it's just a marijuana possession, they must file it under the city code," Quinlan said. But if "they need the first charge to get to probable cause to get to the next charge," then use state law, Quinlan said.

Citing a disparity in arrests under the current state marijuana statute in which young black men are arrested at disproportionate rates, the Columbus City Council voted unanimously July 22 to reduce the fine for being caught with 7 ounces or less of pot to less than a parking meter fine.

Those caught with up to 3.5 ounces would pay a $10 fine, and those caught with between 3.5 and 7 ounces would pay a $25 fine with no possible jail time. Under state law, the penalties are $150 and $250, plus up to 30 days in jail, respectively.

No city fines would apply to people approved for medical marijuana use, and convictions under the new city code would “not constitute a criminal record and need not be reported by the person" in employment or license applications, or when appearing as a witness.

The new law takes effect Aug. 21.

Prosecutors with the city attorney's office also would have discretion over which law to enforce, and it is "exploring a policy for charging or ultimately resolving marijuana-related cases under the new city code and its penalties whenever appropriate," Meredith Tucker, spokeswoman for City Attorney Zach Klein, said in an email. 

Options available to prosecutors include pleading down a state marijuana charge to the lesser city violation, or even outright dismissing it and refiling it under the city code, Tucker said.

No one spoke in opposition to the reduced penalties during a council hearing July 18. Only one person expressed any concern — that kids might get the wrong idea — but even she didn't oppose reduced fines.

Many of the pastors, teachers, coaches, parents and members of the black community who attended the hearing urged the council to go further and drop all penalties.

But while several other Ohio municipalities, including Toledo and Cincinnati, have eliminated penalties, the Columbus city attorney's office advised that not having any penalty could open the ordinance to being reversed on appeal, based on case law.

Lara Baker Morrish, solicitor general with the city attorney’s office, said after the public hearing that even if Columbus eliminated misdemeanor pot penalties, police could still use the odor of marijuana as a reason to detain people, because it's still not legal.

In conjunction with the lesser penalties, the city council approved $130,000 in funding for the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, a nonprofit agency that provides legal assistance to economically disadvantaged people in central Ohio. The money would be used to provide a new staff position to help people seal court records concerning marijuana convictions, while also training other attorneys to do so.