Texas activists hope to decriminalize cannabis locally in another city by putting an initiative at the ballot for voters this November.
The organization Ground Game Texas announced on Thursday that it is “gearing up to bring the fight for marijuana decriminalization to Kyle, Texas—one of the fastest-growing cities in the state.”
“This isn’t just about one policy—it’s about people taking power into their own hands,” the group said. “We are organizing along with Kyle residents to insist on a future in which our neighbors will not be punished for small amounts of marijuana.”
“We know how to win—we’ve done it before. “Now, we are ready to win again.”
Ground Game has not yet finalized the language of the ballot question, a spokesperson said to MEDCAN24. The grassroots group is asking for donations to help fund the effort. They have set a goal of $50,000 to reach within the next 30 days to put organizers “on the ground”, get petitions out to residents, and let Kyle voters make the change.
Ground Game Texas Executive Director Catina Voellinger told MEDCAN24 that “over the past two decades, Kyle has undergone a rapid transformation, exploding in population from around 5,000 residents to over 60,000 today.”
She said, “The youth are ready to change and their demands have been centered on: ending the low-level enforcement of cannabis that has long been used as a punishment for working-class people.”
Voellinger stated that “reducing the damage caused by excessive criminalization has never been more important.” As our nation teeters at the edge of a severe economic recession and as our civil liberties and safety nets on both the federal and state levels are rapidly being eroded, it is urgent to reduce the harm. “Texas has some of the lowest voter turnout numbers in the country—people are waiting for something real that meets the moment and moves with them. If we want to drive Texans to turnout, we’ve got to fight for people—every damn day.”
Organisers plan to gather 3,000 signatures once the final text has been written and the campaign is underway to be eligible for the vote later in the year.
Ground Game’s latest efforts to decriminalize Cannabis in Kyle are part of an ongoing effort to counter the Republican Attorney general of Texas who is suing to undo other local reforms approved by voters.
Even though the State has resisted, activists are still able to win their legal battles despite state resistance.
For example, in February, a Texas judge has ruled that a cannabis decriminalization law approved by Dallas voters last year can continue to be implemented—denying a request from Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) that sought to temporarily block the reform as a lawsuit proceeds.
The lawsuit filed by Paxton has not been thrown out. At least temporarily, however, the judge has decided that the policy of decriminalization will continue while the litigation proceeds.
Dallas Police Department previously told officers not to arrest or cite people who possess up to 4 ounces marijuana in compliance with the ballot initiative approved by voters.
Numerous Texas cities have enacted local decriminalization laws in recent years, and, last January, the attorney general similarly sought to block the reform in Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton.
State district judges dismissed two of the lawsuits—which argue that state law prohibiting marijuana preempts the local policies—in Austin and San Marcos. Elgin, despite the fact that voters approved the decriminalization initiative there, reached a settlement.
Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican governor from Texas, spoke out strongly against municipal marijuana reform.
“Local communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don’t have the authority to override state law,” the governor said last May “If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let’s work together to ensure that as a collective, the state will be able to pass some law.
It would be “chaos”. He also said that it was “unworkable” to allow cities to pick and choose the state laws and regulations they wish to adhere to.
Abbott has previously said that he doesn’t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession—although he mistakenly suggested at the time that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.
In 2023, Ground Game released a report that looked at the impacts of the marijuana reform laws. The report found that these measures would keep hundreds out of prison, even though they had led to a backlash from the law enforcement agencies in certain cities. Report said that the initiatives had also increased voter participation by appearing on ballots.
Another cannabis decriminalization measure that went before voters in San Antonio that year was overwhelmingly defeated, but that proposal also included unrelated provisions to prevent enforcement of abortion restrictions.
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Late last month, the Texas Senate passed a bill which cannabis activists and stakeholders claimed would completely eliminate the hemp industry in the state by prohibiting the sale of any consumables derived from this plant that contains THC.
The latest cannabis-related proposal filed by Texas legislators for the current session is this one, which, together with another from Rep. Joe Moody’s (D) initiative to decriminalize the drug statewide. Among other things, various measures are being proposed to legalize marijuana for adults, eliminate criminal penalties associated with cannabis possession, adjust existing medical marijuana law in Texas, etc.
Moody sponsored a similar marijuana decriminalization bill last legislative session, in 2023. That measure, HB 218, passed the House on an 87–59 vote but later died in a Senate committee.
The House had already passed earlier cannabis decriminalization proposals during the two previous legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019. But the efforts have consistently stalled in the Senate amid opposition from the lieutenant governor.
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Philip Steffan provided the photo.
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