On Thursday, a Texas Democratic Senator brought marijuana legalization up on the Senate floor. He was trying to add an amendment to a resolution unrelated to the issue that would have allowed Texans the right to vote at the polls to end prohibition.
The symbolic proposal was eventually rejected. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), the Senate President, accepted the point of order from another senator, who said that the cannabis amendment was not relevant to the larger legislation.
While advocates await the Senate’s decision on the House-passed bills decriminalizing marijuana and expanding the state’s Medical Cannabis Program, this procedural defeat has some concerned that the anti-legalization chamber presider will also move to squash more modest reforms.
Sen. Roland Gutierrez, (D), did have a chance to address his amendment before it was blocked. He said it would give Texans the opportunity “to vote on the legalization the consumption and production cannabis”.
I have filed an amendment today to HJR126 which would allow the people of Texas the opportunity to vote on legalizing cannabis.
This would boost our economy, be a huge benefit for our farmers and would allow those who need it, like veterans, the opportunity to have it legally…. pic.twitter.com/oyuWXAItzD
Senator Roland Gutierrez May 4, 2019
The senator’s proposal aimed to extend a provision in the proposed constitutional amendment of the resolution that would grant people the right to engage in agricultural and horticultural activity on land they own or rent. He wanted to include the right to “cultivate marijuana for personal and/or commercial consumption.”
The resolution as a whole would amend the Constitution of the State and therefore requires voter approval. If adopted, this amendment would have given Texans the opportunity to vote for legalization in a broader context.
The senator stated that he had studied the issue in great detail, and added that legalization could generate billions of dollar revenue, create thousands of jobs, and allow people who have been criminalized for cannabis to “get back on track.”
He said that “every state in the area of Texas has legalized marijuana.” “We’re losing revenue to the states around us.”
Gutierrez also attacked the Nixon administration. He said that the former president “was the most impactful in putting a stigma on this issue,” and that he ignored recommendations from a committee that he had formed, which urged federal decriminalization. Nixon instead “cut a bargain with Congress” and placed cannabis under Schedule I of federal statute. “It hasn’t been removed since.”
Watch: @RolandForTexas introduces a constitutional amendment that allows Texans the right to vote on cannabis legalization.
For our veterans For our veterans. For the countless Texans who are of color whose lives have been ruined by minuscule marijuana charges.
It’s time. It’s past time. #LegalizeIt #txlege pic.twitter.com/or4ENlyueA
Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats May 4, 2020
The senator stated that “our community wants this and they want the ability to vote on it.”
Patrick then said that the point was “well taken and sustained”, without commenting on the legalization plan.
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reform in the Senate has been stalled under Patrick’s leadership.
Patrick hasn’t explicitly indicated that he’s willing to let the Senate take up the marijuana bills passed by the House in the last month. The lieutenant-governor’s office hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comments on the bills.
According to a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project survey conducted in December, almost three-quarters of 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.”
In Texas, activists have been successful in passing municipal cannabis reform laws. This Saturday, voters in San Antonio will vote on local ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana.
A key Senate committee chairman says Marijuana Banking Bill hearing could be held next week
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