Common sense in Wisconsin

This is good news.

A new La Crosse County ordinance would send criminal charges up in smoke for low-risk offenders busted with under 25 grams - a little less than an ounce - of marijuana.

At a Thursday meeting, the county board voted 15-12 to pass the ordinance, which would send first-time offenders away with a citation and fine instead of a misdemeanor charge.

And here's the best quote in response to the prohibs' usual arguments.

La Crosse County Circuit Judge John Perlich, who presides over the county's Drug Court, wasted no time challenging most of what Horne said.

He held four criminal complaints for minor marijuana possession from a recent day, which he riffled through with his fingers as he recited a long list of clerks who spent time filing and processing the complaints.

"All this for a low-risk offender - all this costs you, the taxpayer, a lot of money," he said.

Good for the Board to have passed the ordinance. Now if they can just get the cops to honor it.