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RACINE — The City Council on Tuesday voted to order the city’s police chief to direct his officers to issue citations for first-time marijuana possession in cases involving under 25 grams, and to set a range for the fine from $1 to $75.

The city has had an ordinance stating that officers could issue citations for marijuana possession of less than 25 grams since 1990. But a Journal Times investigation from 2017 found that officers were twice as likely to issue criminal charges in such cases and that trend has continued.

During Tuesday’s meeting, City Attorney Scott Letteney said that according to records the city compiled for the discussion, in 2017 police issued 32 citations and 187 criminal charges for marijuana possession under 25 grams; so far in 2018 there have been 20 citations and 129 criminal charges. Letteney said he did not know if there were any other charges tied to the cases where the D.A. pursed criminal charges.