Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner enacted a law last week to make possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana a civil penalty.
Now, people will only face fines reaching $200.
Patrick Hoey is the Assistant Deputy Chief of Rockford Police. He says nothing's new; the department decriminalized marijuana possession back in 2015.
“There was no sense of us taking time to drive someone downtown, you know, book them in the jail," Hoey said. “I think it just makes us more efficient. It puts the officer back patrolling right away without the time it takes when you have a custodial arrest.”
Hoey says people will receive a ticket in the same way as a traffic violation.
Chicago decriminalized small amounts of marijuana in 2012.
