Under current law in New Orleans, if you've never been busted with pot before, police can use their discretion on whether or not to take you to jail or issue a summons.
But, if you're a repeat offender it's handcuffs and lock up for you.
Beginning June 21, all of this will change as the penalty for being caught with bud in the Big Easy has greatly diminished.
This week the mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, signed into law an ordinance that gives police the option to issue a ticket to offenders caught with up to 14 grams of pot.
While police still have the discretion to place an offender under arrest and charge them with marijuana possession, you'll likely end up with a $40 ticket.
The new ordinance expands upon a 2010 law that gives New Orleans police the discretion to issue a summons to appear in court instead of making an arrest. But this only applies to first-time offenders.
According to the Marijuana Policy Project, the number of marijuana possession charges have fallen by 31% and arrests have fallen by over 50% since the city’s 2010 law took effect.
Way to go NOLA, now if only the rest of the south could get in line.
