Two cities in Texas will vote on two local ballot measures related to marijuana decriminalization on Saturday. The bill passed by the Texas House of Representatives is currently pending before the Senate.
San Antonio voters are going to vote on a comprehensive justice reform initiative, which includes provisions decriminalizing cannabis. Harker Heights residents have the opportunity to reverse the local government’s repealing of a decriminalization measure that they had passed.
San Antonio’s proposal asks voters whether they support blocking the police from arresting or issuing citations to low-level marijuana users, preventing abortion restriction laws being enforced, banning no knock warrants, and other reforms.
In January, advocates with Ground Game Texas (the organization spearheading the ballot initiative ) submitted more than 37,000 valid signatures in order to qualify it.
The measure states that the “City of San Antonio will use its resources and authority in order to achieve three important goals: First, reduce the City’s contributions to mass incarceration, Second, mitigate racially biased law enforcement practices, and Third, save scarce public resources to meet greater public needs.”
In the initiative, there is a cannabis section that stipulates “San Antonio Police officers shall not issue or make arrests in respect of Class A or B misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses,” except for a few exceptions.
The law also states that “the odor of cannabis or hemp cannot be considered probable cause to search or seize anything.”
It continues, “No funds or staff of the City shall be used to conduct or obtain tetrahydrocannabinol testing (THC) of any cannabis-related substances to determine if the substance meets state law’s legal definition of marijuana.”
The law would also decriminalize the possession of synthetic cannabinoids, requiring that police issue a citation or ticket, instead of arresting anyone who possesses up to four ounces.
The measure also prohibits law enforcement from criminalizing abortion in the second most populous city of the state, issuing no-knock warrants, and using chokeholds on suspects.
According to the proposal, a city would also be required to appoint an “Office of Justice Director” in order to meet three policy priorities: reduce the number of people incarcerated, minimize racial disparities within law enforcement, and “save limited public resources for more pressing public needs.”
Harker Heights’ measure is a bit more complicated, since voters approved decriminalization on the ballot in November. activists have collected signatures to bring back the ordinance that was repealed by the City Council shortly after it passed, due to concerns about its conflict with state law. The decision will be made on Saturday.
, in Proposition A , asks the following question: “Shall an ordinance repealing Chapter 133 of the Code of Ordinances of Harker Heights, ‘Marijuana Enforcement’, be approved?”
Voters who wish to overrule local legislators and reinstate decriminalization must vote “no”.
Ground Game Texas won a number reform victories during recent elections.
Even though Harker Heights is the only city in the group to have repealed this initiative, there are still issues for advocates in other jurisdictions that have approved decriminalization.
The Killeen City Council, for example, temporarily halted the implementation of the local ordinance approved by voters, arguing there were some legal concerns which lawmakers had to address before approving it, and they did.
Local officials in Denton did not seek to repeal the cannabis law that was approved by voters, but initially contested key provisions. They argued that Denton’s city council wasn’t authorized, as they claimed, to order police to implement the policy changes. They later accepted the reform.
Elgin, San Marcos and other localities also decriminalized last year without the same problems from local governments.
Austin voters , on the other hand, strongly voted in favor of a marijuana decriminalization measure back in May.
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Texas’ conservative legislature has failed to pass a statewide marijuana reform despite a recent surge in local actions on the issue under the home rule laws.
The Texas Senate is expected to take action on a bill that was passed by the Texas House last month to decriminalize all marijuana in the state.
The House passed similar decriminalization bills in the two previous legislative sessions: 2021 and 2019. The has been stalled by the Lt. Governor in the Senate . Dan Patrick (R), the Republican who preside over the chamber, is the one to watch.
Last month, the House also passed a bill to allow medical marijuana to be used as an alternative to opioids by people suffering from chronic pain, and to replace the THC limit set by the state. The 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 in 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.
Teen Marijuana Use Has Been Declining Since Legal Dispensaries Started Opening, Federal CDC Study Shows
Photo by Mike Latimer.
The post Texas Voters to Decide on Marijuana Decriminalization Measures in San Antonio and Harker Heights on Saturday first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
