A police-sponsored bylaw decriminalizing underage drinking was passed “overwhelmingly” at Town Meeting in Duxbury on Saturday, according to a statement by Duxbury police.

The new law allows police to impose a fine on minors in possession of alcohol, rather than making arrests or filing criminal charges. Fines would be $150 for the first offense and $300 for the second and subsequent offenses, the Globe reported last week.

“We feel strongly as a department that we need a tool that allows the officer to provide that formal consequence more consistently without creating a permanent criminal record for an adolescent,” police said on their website.