SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - On July 1st, laws across the state will change.

Among the new laws going into effect will be tougher penalties against people operating marijuana grow houses.

Police say the new laws will make neighborhoods safer because they make it easier to punish criminals, so more bad guys will be off the streets.

The new laws will work like this, now deputies only need to find a minimum of 25 marijuana plants to charge people with a second degree felony, before they needed to have a minimum of 300 plants. This means more people will get tougher jail sentences.

Other laws attached to the bill enhance the penalties for parents who are caught growing pot with children in the house.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott says the bottom line with these new laws is it sends a message to criminals: the state is cracking down and will not tolerate drug pushers anymore.

"They had a free pass for some time now over the years. We've stepped up the intensity. We're not going to let up until they're out of town or in prison," he said.

Over the past four years in Lee County, more than a 150 grow houses have been taken down.

The number is even bigger across the state and get this, just in the past year, law enforcement agencies all over Florida have collected more than $41 million dollars in pot from busting grow houses.