Los Angeles Unified School District no longer issuing citations for fighting or possession of alcohol and marijuana

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Unified School District students will no longer be issued citations for some offenses, including possession of alcohol or small amounts of marijuana on campus, due to sweeping changes to the district's disciplinary procedures.

Instead of being cited or arrested, students will be sent to the principal's office or off-site counseling centers. The "low-level" offenses also include fighting on campus and vandalizing school property. The new discipline policy only applies to first-time offenses.

The reforms reflect research showing that students who are arrested are at a higher risk of dropping out and falling into the criminal justice system.

"There are consequences. For a long time I think, this country, we lost our way in zero tolerance. We have zero tolerance. It doesn't mean that we have zero consequence, so we do not accept the behavior, but our response is not to immediately criminalize. We have been dropping our suspension rates dramatically and we want to continue to do the same thing with the citation rates," said Superintendent John Deasy.

The changes go into effect this school year. In the past, the same violations could have sent students to court or probation.

The new plan has the potential to impact more than 640,000 students at nearly 1,100 schools in the nation's second-largest school system.