After deciding not to pass the reform, lawmakers in Lubbock have approved an official resolution that will put a local decriminalization measure on the ballot for the spring of next year.
Lubbock City Council approved a special election for May 4, 2024. This is one month after lawmakers unanimously rejected a decriminalization plan, which was placed on the agenda by activists after they submitted enough signatures for its consideration.
The committee that drafted the Freedom Act Lubbock Ordinance first submitted paperwork to the city secretary in the month of August. confirmed earlier this month that after activists submitted more than 10,000 petitions, the campaign had enough petitions to proceed with the process.
Lubbock is the tenth-largest city in Texas by population. Local legislators had 30 days to conduct a hearing, and decide whether or not to decriminalize. In November, they opted to defeat the bill and instead put it to the voters.
Adam Hernandez, the communications chair of the group Lubbock Compact which led the effort to collect the signatures for decriminalization and announced his candidacy for mayor of Lubbock one day before the vote on the schedule for the May 2024 Cannabis election.
The committee’s proposal would prohibit local police from arresting or issuing citations for adults who are in possession of four ounces or less of cannabis unless a court order was issued by a state or federal authority that prohibited the policy. The initiative states that if this happens, “City policy will be to give enforcement of Class B and Class A misdemeanors marijuana possession the lowest priority.”
The measure’s text states that the goal is to “promote health, safety and general welfare for the people of Lubbock”. It also says the city will “focus its resources on public safety issues of highest priority” by “carefully allocating limited city resources.”
Lubbock will be the second-largest city in Texas by population to pass the reform. Ground Game Texas led a number of cities, including Austin and Delton. Elgin. Harker Heights. Killeen. San Marcos.
This organization released a recent report that examined the impact of similar marijuana reform initiatives. The report found that these measures would keep hundreds out of prison, despite the fact that they had led to a backlash from law enforcement. Report said that the initiatives had also increased voter turnout because they were on the ballot.
A measure to decriminalize abortion in San Antonio was defeated by a large margin in May. However, this proposal included provisions that would prevent the enforcement of any restrictions on abortion.
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In certain jurisdictions, where decriminalization was approved by voters, advocates have had to deal with issues.
The city council overturned Harker Heights’ ordinance shortly after the voters approved it, citing concerns that the measure was in conflict with state law. But activists collected enough signatures to repeal the repeal by collecting more for a different initiative.
Killeen City Council temporarily suspended the implementation of their local voter-approved marijuana ordinance. They argued that there were some legal concerns that legislators needed to work through before they gave it their approval. This was eventually done. Bell County sued the policy in April.
The Texas House of Representatives this session passed a number of bills that would decriminalize cannabis, allow expungements, and give chronic pain patients access to medical cannabis as an alternative to opioids. But the Senate ultimately blocked the bills, which was a common theme in cannabis reform in the conservative legislative body over the past several sessions.
In 2021 and 2019, the House adopted similar proposals for decriminalizing cannabis.
A Texas Democratic Senator brought marijuana legalization up on the Senate floor in May. He was trying to attach an amendment to a resolution that had nothing to do with the issue, allowing Texans the opportunity to vote at the polls to end prohibition. But , the symbolic proposal was ultimately rejected . Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), in agreement with another member, agreed that the cannabis amendment was not relevant to the larger legislation.
According to a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project survey conducted last year, 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 also showed in March that a majority felt that state marijuana laws should “be less strict.”
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The post Local Texas lawmakers officially place marijuana decriminalization initiative on Lubbock’s may 2024 ballot appeared initially on Marijuana Moment.
