On Thursday, the Texas House of Representatives approved a bill that would decriminalize cannabis and establish a process for facilitating cannabis conviction expungements. The bill will now be sent to the Senate to be considered.
One day after the chamber had approved the bill on preliminary reading, the 87-59 vote was on Rep. Joe Moody’s (D) legislation. A House committee also heard testimony Wednesday on a separate measure to legalize and regulate the sale of cannabis more broadly.
The vote came about a month after the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee passed the measure unanimously. This would eliminate the risk of arrest and jail time for low level possession of cannabis, and allow people to erase cannabis-related issues from their criminal record.
The House has passed similar decriminalization bills in the two previous legislative sessions. These were 2021 and 2019 respectively. The has been stalled by the Lt. Governor in the Senate . Dan Patrick (R), the Republican who preside over the chamber, is at fault.
Patrick may try to block reform legislation again. Marijuana Moment contacted the lieutenant-governor’s office to get a comment. However, representatives had not responded by the time this article was published.
The HB 218 is a combination of two separate measures that were both passed by the House in the most recent session.
The proposed law would reduce the punishment for possession of up one ounce marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor. Instead of facing jail time, it would impose 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 specifies that possession up to two ounces cannabis will not lead to an arrest. Instead, violators are cited and released. For a fee of $30, those with convictions for possession up to two ounces marijuana can have their convictions expunged.
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The House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee heard a bill on Wednesday from Moody that would legalize marijuana in a more general way. Adults can purchase, possess, and give away up to 2.5 ounces cannabis. The law allows adults to grow up 12 plants as long as the plants are kept in an enclosed, secure space.
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation will be responsible for the administration of the program. This includes developing a licensing process for marijuana businesses.
The Bill (HB 3562) proposes a tax of 10 percent on cannabis products. Revenues would be distributed to local municipalities that operate marijuana businesses (10%), counties in which these businesses are located (10%), a “cannabis quality control and testing fund” (1%) and administrative costs. The remaining funds would go to a fund for public school teachers.
Local governments cannot ban marijuana businesses, but they can set rules “governing hours of operation and location, the manner of conducting business and number of cannabis establishments or testing facilities, as well as cannabis growers.”
The bill does not appear to propose any specific measures to support social justice goals, including expungements and licensing priority for those from communities who have been disproportionately affected by the drug war.
The House passed a separate bill earlier this month to allow people with chronic pain to use medical marijuana instead of opioids and to replace the THC limit set by the state. This legislation was then sent to the Senate to be considered.
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 that the majority of Texas voters felt 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.
In Texas, activists have been successful in passing municipal cannabis reform laws. In November, voters in five Texas cities — Denton, Elgin and Harker Heights , Killeen, San Marcos , passed ballot measures decriminalizing marijuana.
Local officials in those municipalities have attempted to undermine the cannabis measures that voters approved, but
Next month, voters in San Antonio will decide whether to decriminalize cannabis.
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