Chicago is easing up on marijuana laws.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy both support an ordinance that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with a small amount of marijuana.  They’d pay a fine ranging from 100 to 500-dollars.

The mayor says the new law could be in place later this summer and free up police for more important work.

Chicago police have been arresting more than 18-thousand people a year, most of them minorities, for possessing ten grams or less of marijuana.

- Bob Hamilton, KMOX News