Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl officially asked the city's legal department Friday to create an ordinance that would eliminate the possibility of jail time for anyone caught possessing less than 10 grams of marijuana.

The current law states that anyone found to possess between 2.5 and 10 grams of marijuana could be ticketed, fined up to $1,500 and jailed for potentially as long as six months.

"I do not want young people in Evanston who do not have access to high-powered attorneys to have arrest records for possessing less than 10 grams," Tisdahl said in an email to the Chicago Tribune. "I want them to have jobs. A ticket and a fine will suffice."

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