The Washington, D.C. City Council has advanced a measure to decriminalize marijuana. The move would scrap criminal penalties for marijuana possession in favor of a violation equivalent to a parking ticket. City Councilmember and bill sponsor Tommy Wells said marijuana laws have led to the disproportionate jailing of African Americans.

Tommy Wells: “We’ve had a long period of social and racial injustice related to the war on drugs, especially when it comes to marijuana. Ninety-one percent of the arrests in D.C. related to small amounts of marijuana are African Americans. And you can’t tell me with six universities, not to stereotype, that the only people smoking pot are African-American youth.”

A final vote on the D.C. pot measure is expected later this month.