Even if you’re not a fan of weed, the new ordinance that was passed last Thursday by New Orleans City Council is still beneficial to all citizens of NOLA. The new city law now passes out tickets and fines to those who are in possession of pot, instead of arresting them.

The fines will start out at $40 and raise to $100 for repeated offenses. This method of law allows police officers to focus more of their time on violent crimes in the city rather than spend six hours arresting someone who isn't causing harm to others.

Councilman James Gray said, “We shouldn’t be hunting rabbits while lions and tigers are running around in the streets.”

While the new ordinance will decrease the jail capacity and give officers freedom to do other duties, there are a lot of unanswered questions.

How will police officers choose to follow city or state law? How will other law enforcement agencies fit into this new ordinance? State Troopers opposed the ordinance, but are meeting with NOPD and other officials this coming week to work out details. How will it be determined if someone is in “possession” or “possession with the intent to distribute”?

The council and other state and city officials also have concerns about these inconsistencies, but security is the foremost issue. “Public safety is our top priority,” Mayor Landrieu’s spokesman, Hayne Rainey said in an email. “Right now, we are hiring and training a larger, more professional police force that will give us the tools required to reduce violent crime, reduce response times and provide our residents and visitors with the security we all deserve. The ordinance will become law.”

Another concern was raised by Councilman Jared Borsett, who feared that some police officers would choose to enforce harsher penalties based on the offender's race or demographic.

Councilwoman Susan Guidry, who introduced the first policy of possession and then this one, was provided proof that there wasn't any previous history to back that claim. When the 2010 ordinance went into effect, the decreased rates of arrests for marijuana possession were similar for both white and black offenders.

There are certainly kinks in the policy, and a lot of unanswered questions, but the new ordinance is a good thing. Popular opinion has showed that most people believe that possession of pot should not be taken as a serious offense. With this new policy, New Orleans, and possibly the state, is taking the first steps to legalizing weed.