DENVER -- The Denver City Council said it will let voters decide how much of a priority enforcing the city's marijuana law will be.

The group Citizens for a Safer Denver wants to make the law the lowest priority for police. Most City Council members said they are against the change but feel voters should have a final say.

Citizens for a Safer Denver was the group that pushed for a city measure that would make possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana legal. Voters passed the measure in 2005 but the city ordinance is virtually ineffective. Police said they would continue prosecuting people under state law, which marijuana proponents tried but failed to change through a vote last year.

The group said it has enough petition signatures this year to place an initiative on the ballot that would direct police to make marijuana their lowest priority.

"It's time we stop arresting adults for using a drug that's less harmful than alcohol, and it's time we start allowing them to make the safer choice to use marijuana instead if that's what they prefer," said Mason Tvert, spokesman for Citizens for Safer Denver.

Denver's charter requires the City Council to review an initiative and either enact it or send it to voters, mayor spokeswoman Lindy Eichenbaum Lent said. The City Council chose not to enact it.

Meanwhile, the Denver mayor and four council members admitted to a local newspaper that they had smoked pot. But the city leaders said their experiences have nothing to do with public policy.

The Denver Daily News surveyed the mayor and 13-member council on marijuana use and published the results Monday. Six members refused to answer. Three said no.

"I had a brownie once, there may have even been a bowl going with it," Councilwoman Marcia Johnson told the newspaper. "I got a good taste and even a case of the giggles, but I voted against (the marijuana measure) because I'm thinking of the message to little children."

Hickenlooper had previously admitted smoking marijuana.

"As I've already been open about in the past -- and as I assume many would expect -- I made personal choices when I was younger that I neither support nor condone for others and certainly wouldn't encourage through public policy," Hickenlooper said.

The other members who admitted to using marijuana were Rick Garcia, Carla Madison and Jeanne Robb.