BREAKING: Kent voters will decide whether to decriminalize marijuana in November

Kent City Council voted Wednesday night to send an ordinance to the Portage County Board of Elections for inclusion on the November 2022 ballot.

The ordinance was presented by Sensible Kent to the council as the result of a petition that garnered just enough signatures to force council to consider it.

The new law, if approved in the November referendum, would remove all criminal penalties for possessing recreational quantities of marijuana in the city of Kent. Police could still charge people with misdemeanor possession and they could still be found guilty, but a judge would not be able to levy any fine or court costs.

Read a full explainer on the proposal and what it would mean for residents here.

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Owen MacMillan is a reporter with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University, producing local news coverage in partnership with The Portager.