New Orleans city council voted Thursday to remove penalties for low-level cannabis possession offenses, while in a separate action city leaders decided to vacate thousands of past cannabis-related convictions, reported NORML. 

Under the city’s previous policy, police issued a summons for minor marijuana possession offenses. Those who received summons were required to pay a fine and faced prospects of a criminal record. The new policy removes all fines and those with a pending summons will be granted a “prospective pardon,” without a court appearance. Smoking cannabis in public, however, continues to violate New Orleans’ Smoke-Free Air Act. 

The new depenalization policy is scheduled to commence on September 15. 

A separate ordinance approved by city regulators will allow for eliminating the criminal records of those convicted since 2010 for low-level cannabis possession offenses, which should help around 10,000 residents, according to estimates. Those with pending charges will also have their cases cleared. 

 “This policy will help NOPD build community trust, plus is aimed at saving manpower hours so that they can instead focus on the major problems like shootings, murders, and overall preventing violence in our city,” City Council president Helena Moreno said. “The time to end the criminalization of cannabis possession is now.”

On August 1, Louisiana law that removes the possibility of jail time for low-level cannabis possession offenses took effect. Unlike New Orleans’ municipal ordinance, the new state law does not provide relief for those with prior convictions and does it eliminate fines for those who possess small quantities of cannabis.

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