17 yr old charged with intent to distribute canabis

We live in Florida. My 17 yr old was in a friends car when they where pulled over by the city police. My son was a passenger. The driver was told by the officer he had been stopped for for speeding and loud radio. He was ticketed. After he was finished writting the citation he said he smelled marijuana and told everyone to get out of the car, that he was going to search it. He found 22 grams of canibis, seperated into 15 small plastic bags. He then cuffed each boy,reading them his rights as he cuffed each one. When he got thru he asked who the pot belonged to and my son said it was his. His friends where released and my son arrested. He was charged with Fl Statute 893.13,possesion of canibis with intent to distribute and Fl statute 893.147 possesion of drug paraphenalia.
What can I expect to happen to my son? Will this follow him the rest of his life? I am pretty broke, but probably don't qualify for legal aid. Should I get a laywer, will that make any difference in the outcome?
I have no experience in anything like this and am very worried for my son. Any advice would be appreciated.

first you should find out if your son is being charged as an adult or a juvenile. It makes a big difference.

you should have your son consult with a defense attorney. Then decide if you can afford private counsel or go with a public defender.

My sonis being charged as a juvenile. I picked him up from the juvenille center, not the main jail.

You need to ask law enforcement or the prosecuter's office, you cannot house juvenile's with adults in local jails.