Photo used under a Creative Commons license with JosephAdams.

The Maryland State Senate yesterday voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana, writes the Examiner.

With a 30-16 vote, a bill that would drop the fine for possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana down to a $100 fine moves to the House of Delegates, where it faces an uncertain future. Existing law puts the penalty at a $500 fine and a possible jail term of 90 days. Maryland legislators are also debating a bill that would allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes; in 2011 they passed a bill allowing for an affirmative defense based on medical need.

As for D.C., local defense attorney and At-Large D.C. Council candidate took Maryland’s vote as an opportunity to bash city legislators for not moving in the same direction. Zukerberg has said that if he’s elected on April 23 he’ll push to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

“What we need today in DC is to have the debate. Wherever decriminalization has been debated—Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit—laws have changed for the better. Once the facts are out—once people see the cost in wasted resources and ruined lives—they get the point, and support marijuana law reform,” he said.

Some 4,300 people were arrested for marijuana-related crimes in 2011, above the 2,150 arrested fro the same offenses a decade prior.