"This is absolutely a big deal," said Andy Ko, director of the Drug Policy Reform Project for the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington state. "You've got a mayor in a major American city coming out in favor of a smart and fair and just drug policy."

Daley supports ticketing people caught with small amounts of marijuana rather than prosecuting them in court. The fine would range from $250 to $1,000.

The idea was first raised last month by Chicago police Sgt. Thomas Donegan, who said 94 percent of the city's 7,000 marijuana cases filed last year involving 2.5 grams of the drug or less were dismissed.

"If 99 percent of the cases are thrown out, and we have police officers going to court to testify in the cases, why? It costs a lot of money for police officers to go to court," said Daley.

Pat Camden, a Chicago police spokesman, couldn't recall a single case where an offender received the state's maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $15,000 fine for possessing a small amount of marijuana.

Experts believe that Daley's support of the proposal carries weight because of his background. "As a former prosecutor, nobody is going to say he's soft on crime," said Dick Simpson, a political-science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

If Chicago reduces the penalty for small-time marijuana possession, it would not be the first municipality to do so. Seattle voters approved an initiative that makes personal-use marijuana cases a low priority for law enforcement. In addition, California and Oregon have lowered possession of a small amount of marijuana to a misdemeanor fine, while in Colorado, it's a petty offense.

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