The Texas Senate has approved a bill that would prohibit cities from putting any citizen initiative on local ballots that would decriminalize marijuana or other controlled substances—as several localities have already done despite lawsuits from the state attorney general.
Charles Perry’s (R) legislation is a response to these local reforms. It passed Wednesday with a vote of 23-8. Now it will be sent to the House of Representatives.
According to the proposed amendments, the state law will be changed so that local authorities “may not put an item on the ballot that provides that they local entity won’t fully enforce state drug laws, such as a charter, or charter amendement, which would require that the local authority” does not.
According to the latest amendments made by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, localities would be prohibited from voting on initiatives that are in violation of state laws governing consumable hemp.
A form would have to be created by the Attorney General for the people to use in reporting violations of law. A legislative analysis states that it would expedite any legal proceeding to challenge a city.
Cities found to be in violation of the law by placing a decriminalization initiative—or any measure that conflicts with state or federal drug laws—would be subject to a $25,000 civil fine for a first offense and a $50,000 fine for any subsequent offense.
Perry, in a declaration of intent, said that several local government have taken policies or ordinances to either decriminalize controlled drugs or tell law enforcement and prosecutors to refrain from enforcing our state’s drug laws.
He said that in 2024 the Attorney General would file lawsuits against several cities who had adopted non-prosecution polices which violated Texas law regarding marijuana possession and sale. Although these lawsuits have not yet been resolved, the trend is growing in our state.
The proposed code amendments are not necessary if, as the Attorney General’s suits assert, local decriminalization is already illegal under the law. However, the proposed legislation seems to raise penalties and increase enforcement.
On Friday, the State Affairs Committee will hear a House version of the Bill sponsored by Rep. Jeff Leach.
A Texas appeals court had sided with Texas in a lawsuit against the city of San Marcus for implementing a decriminalization of marijuana law that was approved by local voters.
This was a major setback to activists, who have led efforts in Texas to change local marijuana policies through ballot measures. Ken Paxton’s (R) office has contested many of these changes.
Meanwhile, despite the ongoing litigation and Senate bill’s advancement, Texas activists have their targets set on yet another city, Kyle, where they hope put an initiative before voters to enact local marijuana reform at the ballot this coming November.
A number of courts have decided in the favor of advocates, despite state resistance and recent events in San Marcos.
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 the state attorney general 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 had previously instructed officers to stop arresting or citing people for possession of up to four ounces of marijuana, in accordance with the voter-approved ballot initiative.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R), the Governor of Texas, has slammed municipal efforts to reform cannabis laws.
“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. We should legislate so that we can ensure the state as a whole will adopt some laws.
The state’s statute would be used to allow voters to choose which laws to follow in their city. This, he said, could lead to chaos and an unworkable system.
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, despite the fact they had led to a backlash from some law enforcement agencies. 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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Meanwhile, late last month the Texas Senate approved a bill that cannabis advocates and stakeholders said would effectively eradicate the state’s hemp industry, prohibiting consumable products derived from the plant that contain any amount of THC.
That, as well as another measure from Rep. Joe Moody (D) to decriminalize cannabis statewide, is one of the latest of nearly two dozen cannabis-related proposals filed so far in Texas for the current legislative session. Some of the other proposals would remove criminal penalties from cannabis possession, legalize adult use marijuana and amend existing laws on medical marijuana.
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.
Separately, a Texas House committee took testimony on Monday about two bills designed to prepare the state to provide swift access to therapeutic psychedelics in the event of approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Maryland Governor signs Marijuana bills that legalize homemade concentrates, establish consumption rules in lounges and shield criminal records
Brian Shamblen is the photographer.
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