CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Clarksville’s City Council discussed Thursday a resolution to effectively decriminalize marijuana within the city limits.

The resolution, sponsored by Ward 12 Council member Trisha Butler, would encourage the Clarksville Police Department to make simple possession and casual exchange of marijuana “the lowest enforcement priority.”

It also requests that District Attorney General John Carney Jr. take “an active stance or position of not prosecuting persons for simple possession or casual exchange of marijuana for personal use.”

The resolution wouldn’t change any laws, but it expresses support for the decriminalization of possession and casual exchange at the state level, which would have to be taken up by the Tennessee General Assembly.

“We’re really ruining people’s lives with that sometimes,” Butler said during the meeting.

“We know that Clarksville has a problem with not having enough officers, and I think that if the officers were focused on violent crimes and not stuff like this, that would save them a lot of time,” Butler told Clarksville Now.

Butler said that the actions of municipalities like Clarksville are key in encouraging the state government to act on decimalization.

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The resolution is similar to a move made by Nashville in recent years. In 2016, Nashville’s Metro Council approved a measure allowing  lesser civil penalties for those caught with small amounts of marijuana.

In July 2020, Nashville District Attorney Glen Funk announced that his office would no longer prosecute individuals for possession of less than a half an ounce.

“(Marijuana charges) do little to promote public health, and even less to promote public safety,” Funk said

Butler cited Funk’s decision as a direct influence on her resolution.

According Funk’s director of communications, Steve Hayslip, this decision resulted in drastic savings for Nashville taxpayers.

In 2014, Nashville law enforcement made 2,142 arrests for minor possession, totaling 5,148 days of jail housing. By 2020, that number was reduced to 258 with a total of 6 days. Hayslip said this has saved Nashville money in jail housing, court clerical hours and enforcement.

Hayslip added that violent crime has gone down as well, with law enforcement able to focus more effort on non-possession related issues.

The Clarksville City Council is expected to vote on the resolution Thursday, March 4, at 7:30 p.m.

A previous version of this article should have said, in 2014, Nashville law enforcement made 2,142 arrests for minor possession, totaling 5,148 days of jail housing. By 2020, that number was reduced to 258 with a total of 6 days.