Texas House-passed legislation to decriminalize cannabis, facilitate expungements, and allow chronic pain sufferers to access medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids is officially dead for this year. Senate leadership has refused to consider the measures before Monday’s legislative session ends.
The advocates had hoped that the Senate was more receptive to modest reforms in this session. But Lt. Dan Patrick (R), the Republican who preside over the chamber continued what had been an effective blockade of cannabis legislation for years by not advancing bills to the floor.
The House passed a law last month that would remove the possibility of arrest for possession of low levels of cannabis , and also allow people to erase their cannabis-related criminal records.
The House had approved similar cannabis decriminalization bills in the two previous legislative sessions: 2021 and 2019. The has been stalled by Patrick in the Senate.
The bill HB218 for this year combines two separate measures that were passed by the House in the last session.
The proposed law would have classified possession of up one ounce marijuana as a Class C misdemeanor. This would have removed the possibility of jail time, and instead imposed a maximum $500 fine. The current law defines possession of small quantities of cannabis as a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180-days in jail or a maximum fine of $2,000
In addition, the bill stated that possession up to two ounces cannabis would not result in arrest. Instead, violators were cited and released. People with convictions for possession of up to two ounces marijuana could also have had their convictions expunged by a court for a fee of $30.
Another measure, which was approved by the House but did not pass in the Senate, would have allowed medical marijuana to be used as an alternative to opioids for those with chronic pain. It would also have replaced the THC limit set by the state.
HB1805 specifically would have replaced the cap of one percent THC for cannabis oil with a dose volumetric of 10 milligrams.
The law would have also expanded the eligibility of low-THC products for patients who suffer from “a chronic condition that would cause pain and for which a doctor would prescribe an opioid.”
The Texas Legislature only meets every other year, and the next session will begin in January 2025.
Rep. Stephanie Klick, who sponsored the bill to expand medical cannabis, said that the Senate’s result was “really disappointed” because there is more research done on chronic pain and we have clinical guidelines, care guidelines and even more for this condition than many other conditions.
She told of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “It was a missed opportunity to assist patients.” We’ll try it again at the next session. We need to continue working on this because it has really changed the lives for some patients.
Sen. Charles Perry, who chairs the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee, where the bill was stalled, suggested similar reforms might be considered in future, perhaps via a study of the topic ahead of the next legislative session.
He said Nexstar, “Maybe there will be an interim charge.” “I hope so. “We need to have a discussion.”
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Separately, a Texas Democratic Senator brought the marijuana legalization issue to the Senate Floor earlier this month. He was trying to attach an amendment to a resolution unrelated that would have allowed Texans the right to vote at the polls to end prohibition.
The symbolic proposal was eventually shut down. Patrick accepted another member’s motion of order and deemed the cannabis amendment to be irrelevant to the larger legislation.
San Antonio, Texas’s second largest city, , rejected , a ballot measure , by a large majority this month. The initiative would have decriminalized cannabis and prevented enforcement of abortion restrictions among other reforms. Harker Heights voters narrowly reaffirmed the cannabis decriminalization measures they approved last year, but were later repealed.
Ground Game Texas, an advocacy group, has won a number other victories for reform in recent elections. Austin is one of the cities where voters approved a measure to decriminalize marijuana in May.
According to a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project survey conducted in December, nearly 3 out of 4 Texas voters (72%) support decriminalizing cannabis. Over half (55%) of respondents said they support a broader legalization. Seventeen percent of respondents said that it should not be legalized at all.
The same institution conducted a more recent poll that showed a majority of Texas’ voters believe that state marijuana laws should “be less strict.”
Texas legislators also filed a number of new bills recently aimed at expanding and promoting psychedelics in the state.
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Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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