Pot smokers busted by cops in Broward County with a joint or a baggy of marijuana could walk away with a civil fine and a clean criminal record.

Broward commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to create a lighter penalty for small-time possessors of marijuana.

The county can't decriminalize an illegal drug, and police officers still have the option to treat the offense as a misdemeanor crime.

But commissioners lamented the lives they say have been ruined by arrest or jailing on what they consider a minor infraction.

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Brittany Wallman ~ South Florida Sun-Sentinel ~