Miami-Dade’s plan for a $100 pot fine faces key vote TODAY!!!
A proposal that would create a $100 fine for marijuana possession in Miami-Dade gets its first hearing before county commissioners Wednesday, a key test for a law designed to keep minor pot offenses out of the criminal system.
Criminal penalties would remain an option for misdemeanor possession of marijuana, but the change in county rules would give all police in Miami-Dade the option of treating it a civil offense instead. If issued a civil citation, the offender would receive a ticket and not a criminal charge that bring up to one year in jail.
Miami-Dade would be the first Florida county to let officers treat possessing small amounts of marijuana the same way they handle littering and other minor offenses, according to local and state officials. The issue is sensitive enough that the county’s mayor is cautioning that he’s not yet ready to back a top police administrator in endorsing the plan. Backers say they don’t want the proposal seen as a move toward decriminalizing marijuana — even though the civil-fine option meshes with that approach.
“The idea of replacing criminal penalties with civil penalties on possession of marijuana is a concept known as decriminalization,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “People do a lot of hemming and hawing over the terminology.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article23643367.html
Way to go Miami! Hopefully it passes!!! 
