City Councilman Kwanza Hall, who also is running to succeed Kasim Reed as Atlanta next mayor, has been trying to lessen penalties around possession of small amounts of marijuana since spring. His legislation is also designed to eliminate jail time for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

Hall said the legislation is necessary to address the disparity in incarceration of African Americans for marijuana possession. While white and black Americans use pot at about the same rate, African Americans are arrested and charged in larger percentages. Between 2014 and 2016, 92 percent of those arrested for possession were African American and 85 percent were male, according to the Racial Justice Action Center in East Point.