Volusia County Council passes marijuana decriminalization ordinance

Yet another council in Florida has decided it's time to lower penalties on small time marijuana possession. Volusia County Council voted unanimously to ease penalties for possession of less than 20 grams of cannabis. Police would be able to choose per situation if they want to charge the defendant with state law or the newly passed county law. The ordinance will go into effet April 1 and offenses will be treated like a traffic ticket and come with a $100 fine.

The law would give the arresting officer the discretion of charging a defendant under state law or the new county law that would lessen the offense to a civil violation similar to a traffic ticket, punishable with a fine of $100