LIVE OAK, FL (WTXL) -- Suwannee County commissioners will discuss a proposal to decriminalize marijuana in the county.
A hot-button issue nationwide, it's made noise locally. Leon County has considered a reduced penalty for marijuana possession, and now, one man wants Suwannee County to follow suit.
Kyle Green says he knows of several cases where people's lives have been negatively affected once they were arrested for marijuana possession.
He's already spoken in front of Columbia County officials about decriminalization -- and now, he's ready to bring that message to Suwannee County.
"With decriminalization being passed like this -- if they were to implement something like this -- not only would it better our community, but I think that the stigma wouldn't be out there that would make kids want to use it as much," Green said, adding he's advocating for decriminalization, not legalization.
Rather than arrest someone for having marijuana, he's proposing officials use discretion and instead go with a civil citation -- which would result in a fee instead of jail time.
"We got to think...how we would better our community by issuing these civil citations instead of making more arrests, wasting more taxpayers' dollars, because it's very expensive to house an inmate," he said.
The Suwannee County manager says it's the first time this particular issue has been brought up in the county in at least five years.
As protocol, the public can request the board to create an ordinance to vote on -- regarding a certain issue.
As of now, no ordinance has been drawn up for the decriminalization of marijuana.
In Leon county, Commissioner Bill Proctor proposed a similar idea a few weeks ago, but it failed to pass.
The Suwannee County board will hear Green's proposal at the judicial annex in Live Oak. Green said he expects several supporters to be in attendance.
