Ordinance introduced to revise marijuana & controlled substance code

ZANESVILLE, OHIO- There has been a bit of discrepancy in the City of Zanesville code relating to small amounts of marijuana & controlled substance charges.

The City of Zanesville code has a different code compared to the state and was thus causing some issues and unnecessary charges to the city.

According to City of Zanesville Law Director, David Tarbert, he said that this was just one of the problems with the current code.

“If they were picked up by the [Ohio State Patrol] troopers or [Muskingum County] sheriff’s office, they were brought in as a misdemeanor,” said Tarbert.  However, if someone was brought in by the Zanesville City Police Department, they were charged with a misdemeanor by the third degree.

Tarbert said that it’s fundamentally unfair and that judge would then reduce the charge and amending it over to the state code.  “That was costing the city thirty to forty thousand dollars a year by not having our ordinance not in line with the state code.”

Tarbert said that if the ordinance is passed, this will now give judges more options for sentencing offenders.

“It allows the judge to do treatment in lieu of conviction and some alternative sentencing measures instead of just sending someone to jail or just fining them.”

If the ordinance passes during the next City Council meeting, it will take effect sometime at the beginning of January in 2017.