PORTLAND — The City Council has postponed action on a measure that would have allowed a group additional time to gather signatures in support of an effort to have police ease off enforcement of marijuana possession laws.

The council on Monday decided to hold an October workshop on a proposal to align the city’s citizen-initiated referendum laws with the state’s rules. Maine laws give those gathering referendum signatures an additional 10 days to get names if they turn in the required number of signatures on time, but fall short because some of the signatures are found to be invalid.

Portland law doesn’t allow any additional time once the petitions are turned in to the city clerk’s office.

Sensible Portland, which is backing the pot measure, turned in petitions calling for a referendum on its proposal in early July, well before an Aug. 15 deadline. The petitions had been signed by 2,100 people, more than the minimum required, but the clerk’s office invalidated more than a third of the names. That left Sensible Portland 93 signatures short of the number needed to put the measure on the November ballot.

Councilor David Marshall had proposed changing the city’s rules to match the state’s, but his effort to pass that as an emergency measure failed earlier this month when too few councilors attended a meeting. An emergency measure requires seven votes to pass.

On Monday, his proposal fell short again and the council voted to hold the workshop in October, too late to affect this year’s ballot.

Marshall said he expects Sensible Portland to try again next year. The group proposes making enforcement of marijuana possession laws a low priority for police and would have officers refrain from making an arrest or fining someone in possession of a small amount of marijuana unless the person is committing a violent crime or has been convicted of violent acts.

Also on Monday, the council agreed to refinance $25.3 million in bonds, taking advantage of low interest rates to save an estimated $1.3 million over the next 10 years.