To add even more context in areas, where legalization has already occurred, prior to california, states like Washington and Colorado, have laughable black populations, so the fact that citations were overwhelming black speaks volumes....yeah i remember a couple years ago hearing on the news that daytona beach (or most likely at the county level, volusia county) was "decriminalizing" weed and was going to give cops discretion to issue $100 tickets for under 20 grams instead of arrests. when i heard that i was like that's not necessarily good because now you're codifying them letting white people go and fining black folks and supporting their local budgets on the backs of black folks. can't pay the fine? you end up in jail.
"officer's discretion" is not a term a black person wants to hear in an interaction with a police officer.
Cops essentially went out of their way to enact draconian laws.
Funny thing I was laughing at the passage of this legislation earlier this week. Like cops are really going enforce underage drinking laws for parents, in Palos Verdes(white neighborhood,median income 160k):
County to punish adults who host underage drinking parties in unincorporated PVP – Daily Breeze