A City Council committee voted to fine possession of less than an ounce of marijuana rather than make automatic arrests. 

Councilman Jim Kenney, who introduced the bill, said that the city could save $4 million if police ticketed rather than arrested individuals found in possession of small amounts of the drug. Kenney cited that last year, none of the 4,200 arrests for small amounts of marijuana were actually processed by the district attorney, and those found in possession were fined instead. The lengthy process of thousands of arrests and court appearances cost the city millions in dollars and time spent off the streets—and away from addressing serious criminal issues. 

Just last week, Washington D.C. passed a similar law that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana in favor of a $25 fine. So far, 17 states have decriminalized marijuana to some extent without going as far as to legalize the drug, like Colorado or Washington has done recently. D.C.'s neighbor, Maryland, currently has a decriminalization and legalization bill in the works. So far, Pennsylvania has neither decriminalized nor legalized the drug. A recent poll found that most Pennsylvania voters who were surveyed do not support legalization.