Orlando on Monday became the latest Florida municipality and the first city in Central Florida to effectively decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, passing an ordinance that will allow officers to issue citations rather than make arrests.

The controversial measure, which was supported by Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orlando police Chief John Mina, was approved by the City Council on a 4-3 vote. It will take effect Oct. 1. The measure was opposed by the two former police officers on the council, Tony Ortiz and Samuel Ings, as well as Commissioner Jim Gray. The ordinance passed both public readings by the same slim margin.

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TALLAHASSEE - A new law that protects five nurseries may have given more ammunition to "ganjapreneurs" seeking an entry into what could be one of the nation's largest medical-marijuana markets come this fall.

The law was intended to inoculate from pending legal challenges the five growers, and their teams of consultants and investors, selected by Florida health officials in November to serve as medical marijuana dispensing organizations, responsible for growing, processing and distributing cannabis products to a limited population of patients. While the law did just that, it also gave at least one losing applicant new grounds for its existing complaint.

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The Orlando City Council is scheduled to make an important decision Monday, one that could set the tone of law enforcement for years to come. A proposal by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to decriminalize possession of a small amount of marijuana in the city is set for final action.

The ordinance passed by a single vote in its first reading on April 18. If the measure becomes law, it would give city police the authority to write a ticket to someone found with less than 20 grams (0.7 ounces) of marijuana rather than make an arrest. Several hundred people went to jail last year for just such a violation, and many may have ended up with a criminal record.

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Recent statistics from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office show that although African-Americans are 10 percent of the county population, they represent 41 percent of the arrests for minor amounts of marijuana. National statistics have prompted the American Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union to call for the decriminalization of the possession of up to 20 grams of marijuana by making it a civil violation, punishable by a ticket, rather than a criminal offense.

I proposed creating a civil citation program in St. Petersburg in October. This proposal does not legalize small amounts of marijuana or the other minor offenses covered in the ordinance. It does make the punishment fit the crime. No one deserves a permanent criminal record or to be forced into drug treatment for possessing small amounts of marijuana. No one's future job prospects should be limited for littering or stealing a shopping cart.

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First Violator Cited Less Than An Hour After Ordinance Took Effect

TAMPA - A stripper, a college student and a lawn maintenance worker were among the first people issued civil citations for possessing small amounts of marijuana since April 1, police records show.

Tampa City Council members on March 17 voted 5-1 to adopt the ordinance, intended to prevent offenders from having the lifelong stigma of a criminal record that can hinder job, scholarship and housing opportunities.

Council members said it will also free up police and the courts. Nearly 1,900 arrests made by Tampa police last year included charges of possession of small amounts of marijuana.

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Regarding Orlando City Commissioner Samuel B. Ings' My Word column, "Ings: Here's why I'm voting no on easing pot penalties," on Wednesday: Ings' opinion is, at best, short-sighted and antiquated. Ings insists that recreational marijuana use should remain a criminal activity. The perception that recreational marijuana use is criminal is dying a slow death, and deservedly so. I expect Ings is unaware of how many of his friends might be recreational or medicinal users.

This ordinance would not promote open marijuana smoking, as he assumes; there is a fine. Marijuana use would remain illegal.

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Concertgoers Indulge in Marijuana in Violation of City Law.

WEST PALM BEACH - After 7:30 p.m. Friday night, you could smell it.

There was no escaping the odor, which permeated the night sky like smoke bellowing from a chimney. The stench of marijuana was as prevalent and as synonymous with SunFest as the downtown traffic jams.

While the crowd can easily tell you what was being smoked, it - like law enforcement - cannot tell you specifically who was smoking it. As one vendor, who requested to remain anonymous, remarked, "It is impossible to pinpoint where it is happening at."

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It's Relevant to Student Discipline, Employment Policy

TAMPA - City officials toiled over the details for months before adopting a law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana.

It's been a month since the regulation took effect, but one segment of the community is still wrestling with its reaction to changes that make possession no more serious than a traffic ticket in the eyes of the law: Hillsborough County schools.

Students likely still will be punished for possession - Hillsborough County schools are drugfree for all students and employees - but decriminalization could change the way teachers and other employees are hired, school officials say. At least in Tampa. "The world is changing around us," school board Chairwoman April Griffin said. "We need to have a conversation about what it means if you've received a citation as opposed to being arrested."

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Mayor Buddy Dyer and the city of Orlando recently passed, 4-3, the initial vote to deprioritize arrests for possession of small amounts of marijuana. I'm thankful for Dyer and Commissioners Regina Hill, Patty Sheehan and Robert Stuart for their support of the ordinance. I, unfortunately, left the City Council meeting feeling disappointed in Commissioner Samuel Ings for voting against it.

We live in a society where young black men and boys have been a target of the war on drugs. Ings argues that this policy would tarnish the image of Orlando as a family vacation destination.

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President Obama's administration has missed opportunities to stem the opioid overdose crisis, and therefore it's no great surprise that heroin overdose deaths have tripled since 2010.

The administration dragged its feet on requiring mental health and addiction treatment to have the same insurance coverage as physical ailments; inexplicably, it took five years to write the federal regulations needed to implement the 2008MentalHealth Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Many insurance plans still ignore the need for parity, studies show. The administration is only this month finalizing rules to implement parity for mental health and addiction treatment in Medicaid...

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The City of Orlando 2016-36 Ordinance relating to the possession of cannabis and cannabis paraphernalia encourages bad behavior. Accountability to our community as a whole for a wholesome life is a must for us as elected officials.

If we were to sanction this ordinance, we would be going down a very slippery slope. People are confused. Some think this measure would decriminalize, or legalize, marijuana, and others think it allows the use of medical marijuana. People need to know, and understand, that this ordinance would make it easier for criminals to use marijuana with fewer criminal charges and less punishment.

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He was 40 years old, a father of three and an Orlando house painter, clean and sober for eight years. One night last summer, he climbed into his truck, stuck a needle in his arm and injected himself with what would be his final dose of heroin.

"The paramedics worked on him for a long time... and when they declared him dead, he was still clutching his last bag of the drug in his fist," says Pastor Spence Pfleiderer. "That's the power of addiction."

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Love Is In The Air

Remember that time in 2014 when medical marijuana got a half-million more votes than Gov. Rick Scott but was still defeated? No? Let's recap.

Two years ago, Florida's biggest political issue, aside from Scott beating Charlie Crist and his loyal Vornado Air Circulator fan for a second term, was Amendment 2, a measure that would have legalized medical marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions. United for Care and its chairman, Orlando attorney John Morgan, pulled in millions of dollars to fight for the initiative. Drug Free Florida, which counted on supporters like the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida Medical Association and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, hauled in its own share of cash, including a $5 million contribution from casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, to oppose medical marijuana.

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Orlando moved a major step closer to effectively decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana on Monday, when the City Council narrowly backed a measure that would allow officers to issue tickets to some people caught with the drug.

Commissioners voted 4-3 to approve the ordinance, which would make possession of 20 grams (about two-thirds of an ounce) or less a violation of city code carrying a $50 fine for first-time offenders.

The council plans to take a final vote on the measure on May 9. If approved then, it would take effect immediately.

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Lee Carroll Brooker, a 75-year-old disabled veteran suffering from chronic pain, was arrested in July 2011 for growing three dozen marijuana plants for his medicinal use behind his son's house in Dothan, Ala., where he lived. For this crime, Mr. Brooker was given a life sentence with no possibility of release.

Alabama law mandates that anyone with certain prior felony convictions be sentenced to life without parole for possessing more than1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of marijuana, regardless of intent to sell. Mr. Brooker had been convicted of armed robberies in Florida two decades earlier, for which he served 10 years. The marijuana plants collected at his son's house-including unusable parts like vines and stalks-weighed 2.8 pounds.

At his sentencing, the trial judge told Mr. Brooker that if he "could sentence you to a term that is less than life without parole, I would."

U.S. Supreme Court justices should take the case and overturn this sentence.

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Orange County should consider Orlando's proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, the sheriff and Mayor Teresa Jacobs said Thursday.

Sheriff Jerry Demings stopped short of giving his full support to Orlando's measure, which would allow police to issue a civil citation rather than arrest someone who is caught with 20 grams or less of pot. But he said he "would not be opposed" to the county adopting a similar policy.

Jacobs said she wants the county's public safety council to dive into the issue.

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City May Decriminalize Small Amounts of Pot

Orlando could soon become the latest Florida city to effectively decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, allowing police officers to issue citations, rather than make arrests.

The City Council on Monday will consider an ordinance that would make possession of 20 grams (about two-thirds of an ounce) or less a violation of city code, carrying a fine of just $50 for first-time offenders, similar to a traffic ticket.

"I think, in this day and age, giving somebody a second chance ... without establishing a criminal record helps improve their opportunities in the future," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who supports the measure.

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I agree with Commissioner Bill Proctor for proposing a looser pot ordinance. He made a good point that people should get issued civil citations rather than a criminal arrest for small amounts of marijuana.

There would be fewer people in jail. The cost of $60 for every inmate could go to the people with more serious crimes. There could be more room in jail for the people who have been waiting on trial for a while.

Everyone should be allowed to get another chance. The way the law is now, some people are going to lose their jobs, homes, cars - anything they own. No one is perfect. I agree with everything Commissioner Proctor said, and I am thankful to him for proposing the new ordinance.

Rodricka Troupe, Tallahassee, Drickatroupe2015@gmail.com

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Recently Leon County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor proposed a looser marijuana ordinance. I don't agree; I do not think marijuana should be decriminalized, because it's bad for people to use it.

It's OK to put people in jail for possessing marijuana. Possession should be a misdemeanor. People need to go to jail for what they did. People need to understand it is dangerous to drive under the influence of marijuana.

Courtney Robinson, Tallahassee, Robinsonc420@gmail.com

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Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is classified as a schedule 1 drug, which means it has no medicinal value and is highly addictive. But the Drug Enforcement Administration is, once again, considering moving it to a less restrictive category that better reflects both its danger and the undeniable facts on the ground - that nearly half the states in the nation allow the use of cannabis for medical purposes, and several allow it to be used recreationally. The DEA told lawmakers that it intends to make a decision by July.

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