Nashville’s District Attorney’s office will no longer prosecute marijuana possession charges for less than half an ounce.

District Attorney General Glenn Funk announced the change Wednesday, effective immediately.

“Marijuana charges do little to promote public health, and even less to promote public safety,” the DA’s office said in a statement.

Low-level marijuana charges disproportionately impact minorities, the DA’s office explained.

“It’s incumbent upon all of us in the criminal justice arena to look for ways to make sure the system is fair, and this seems to me a pretty obvious policy change that needed to happen. We all need to be introspective about our policies and procedures,” Funk said in an interview.

Funk said his top priority is devoting resources to supporting victims and prosecuting violent crime.