GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The city manager plans to authorize decriminalization of marijuana possession and use “very soon.”

Grand Rapids administrators said they are preparing a news release to specify a date for implementation of the voter-approved decriminalization, which is being challenged in court by the Kent County prosecutor. Kent Circuit Judge Paul Sullivan last month lifted a temporary injunction on decriminalization while Prosecutor Bill Forsyth's case plays out.

Though the city now can implement decriminalization, it has not yet done so.

“I believe we will very soon do that,” City Manager Greg Sundstrom said. “I want to make sure our (police) department is ready. I want to make sure our courts are in alignment. This is nothing to be taken lightly.”

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Nearly 60 percent of Grand Rapids voters favored decriminalization at the polls in November, approving a city charter amendment that changes marijuana possession and use from a misdemeanor crime into a civil infraction, like a parking ticket. Forsyth sued to stop the charter amendment, saying it usurps his authority under state law to review marijuana cases.

While the court has not ruled in favor of Grand Rapids, it did reject Forsyth's motion for preliminary injunction on decriminalization. That allows the city to implement the charter amendment pending final resolution of the case or other court orders.

Mayor George Heartwell said City Hall likely will announce March 1 as the date of implementation, though Sundstrom told MLive it could happen as soon as this week.

There is some disagreement among city commissioners about how to proceed.

“Some say the sooner (we implement) the better,” Heartwell said. “There’s another position that says ‘Why implement now when the courts might revise it?’”

RELATED: Watch video of DecriminalizeGR advocates touting a lesser penalty for marijuana offenses

First Ward Commissioner Walt Gutowski, who opposed decriminalization, said the city should wait for Forsyth’s lawsuit to conclude.

“Let it be decided,” he said.

Jack Hoffman, the attorney for DecriminalizeGR, the group that put the city charter amendment on the ballot, said he plans to ask Sullivan at a conference next week to dismiss Forsyth’s suit.

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