SARASOTA, Fla. — The city of Sarasota has decriminalized marijuana possession for less than 20 grams of the illegal drug.
City commissioners passed the ordinance with a unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday night.
Under the ordinance, anyone caught with less than 20 grams will receive a civil citation of a $100 fine or 10 hours of community service.
Commissioner Hagen Brody, who is a former prosecutor and was the driving force behind the ordinance, said the goal is to not tie up valuable law enforcement and criminal justice system resources with marijuana offenses.
“I began to feel that the policies that we had in this city and in this state really didn’t reflect the public sentiment," said Brody. “I think it appropriately balances and discourages drug use without going overboard on punishment.”
“This seems to be not only the most rational and reasonable way to deal with this issue but it’s also a way that saves our law enforcement, our prosecutors, our public defenders, our judges, our juries, our clerks, our bailiffs time to focus on more important issues," he added. “The public sentiment has changed since decades past and that change is happening quickly and really what we’re doing, I feel, is we’re responding to that public sentiment change.”
But not everyone agrees, even some of Brody’s counterparts at the county level. Sarasota County Commissioner Mike Moran has been an outspoken opponent of relaxing marijuana prohibition.
"Twenty grams of marijuana can produce approximately 40-60 joints, depending on the potency," Moran said in a statement emailed to 10News. "It lacks common sense, to suggest this amount is simply recreational use. It is outrageous to expose the youth of our community to this risk simply to limit the workload of our criminal justice system. It’s very simple, don’t do illegal behavior and you don’t have to deal with the criminal justice system."
It goes into effect on December 3rd.
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