This week, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter is set to sign a bill that will decriminalize marijuana. According to Mic, the bill was previously passed by the City Council in May and will reduce the penalty for possession of an ounce (30 grams) of marijuana to a $25 fine. After the fine is paid, offenders will have the charge dropped from their records.

Councilman Jim Kenney was the first to propose the bill. He stated, "After discussions with Philadelphia's criminal justice stakeholders, my requests to end mandatory custodial arrests - i.e. handcuffs and a night in jail - were deemed an 'administrative burden' on our courts and police... Public officials shouldn't be worried about 'administrative burdens' when our inaction is senselessly burdening over 4,400 people with life-changing criminal records each year," explaining why he made the proposal.

Philadelphia Magazine reports that previously, being caught with possession of an ounce of marijuana in Philadelphia was known as a summary offense punishable with a $200 fine and a three-hour class on drug abuse.

However, Mayor Nutter did not see eye to eye with the City Council. According to Mic, even though the Philadelphia City Council passed the bill with a 13-3 majority, Nutter has spent the entire summer stalling until the September 11 deadline for his signature. CBS News reports that Nutter thinks Philadelphia has more important issues to tackle than marijuana.

Nutter stated, "People in this city... come up to me all the time asking about jobs, asking about housing, or asking about their children's education, or can we provide more services... No one has come up to me asking, 'Can you make it easier for me to stand on a street corner in front of some grandma's house and smoke my joint?' So let's be realistic here," conveying the reasons for his disapproval.

Mic reports that this week, the City Council agreed to two amendments on the bill suggested by Nutter: there will be an additional fine of $100 for those consuming marijuana in public places, and there will be a delineation of which part of the bureaucracy will handle the citations.