An Atlanta city councilman was briefly detained by a police officer earlier this month for possessing marijuana.
Antonio Lewis was pulled over while driving a 2019 Chevrolet Malibu at approximately 9:21 a.m. Feb. 2 for a suspended registration, according to an incident report from the Atlanta Police Department.
During the traffic stop, the conducting officer “noticed the smell of raw marijuana coming from inside Mr. Lewis’s vehicle,” the report states. The officer made the scent known, and Lewis handed over a blunt containing four grams of marijuana.
Body camera footage obtained by FOX 5 shows how the encounter went down.
Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis was placed in the back of a police patrol car as an officer wrote him two tickets on Feb. 2, 2024. (Atlanta Police Department)
“I’m going to be honest with you, I smell marijuana coming out of your vehicle,” officer Kenneth Wilson says in the video. “So you got two options here: you can either give it to me, and we’ll be cool. I’ll just give you a ticket for it, or I’m gonna bring dogs and all that s—, and I’m gonna find all of it.”
“Yes sir,” Lewis responded before handing over the unsmoked blunt.
Antonio Lewis represents District 12 on the Atlanta City Council, his online biography states. (Atlanta City Council)
Officer Wilson cuffed Lewis and placed him in the back of his patrol car while he wrote up tickets for marijuana possession and driving with a suspended registration.
“You said you’re a city councilman?” officer Wilson is heard asking in the footage. “Well, make sure you tell everyone Officer Wilson treated you fairly.”
Lewis was cited and released on scene. He did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis willingly handed over a joint, the officer’s bodycam footage showed. (Atlanta Police Department)
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Atlanta’s city council unanimously decriminalized the possession of marijuana up to an ounce in October 2017, according to FOX 5, making the severity of the offense reduced from an arrest to a simple citation.
Georgia law says the punishment for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana is up to one year behind bars, up to a $1,000 fine, or both, but the Atlanta ordinance reduced the penalty to just a $75 fine.
