Texas politicians introduce opposing plans for marijuana legalization
What’s going on in the state next door?
By Isabella Wisinger
iStock photo of Fort Worth, Texas.
Democratic State Rep. Jessica González of Texas introduced a new bill last month to recreationalize marijuana. Her bill proposes a 10% excise tax on marijuana sales among other new licensing processes, but most sensational is the motion to raise the personal possession limit to 10 ounces (stored at an individual residence.) This potential new limit is higher than in most other recreationally reformed states, and much higher than Arkansas’ legal possession limit of 2.5 ounces per 14-week period for medical marijuana patients.
Currently, having a ‘personal amount’ of marijuana is legal in several Texan cities (Austin, Bastrop, Dallas, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and Lockhart), but Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed multiple lawsuits against these cities claiming they are in violation of state law. Dallas, Lockhart, and Bastrop just approved ballot measures to legalize possession of up to 4 ounces in Nov. 2024, while the other cities implemented the decriminalization of small amount of marijuana possession in previous years. The rules are different for patients across Texas who are enrolled in the state’s limited medical marijuana program.
Swiftly after the Democratic bill was introduced, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of the Republican Party began campaigning for a total ban on THC products in the state of Texas. The presence of two drastically different initiatives reflects the divide in public opinion not only in Texas but the country at large. The Pew Research Center found that 88% of the country believes marijuana should be legal for recreational OR medical use (32% supported medical legalization only.) Their findings closely mirror those of the University of Houston, which reports that a definite majority of Texans support legalizing recreational use. 18% of the Texas population is in favor of no changes to the current laws about marijuana, a consequential minority that is mostly composed of the state’s Christian Republicans, according to the university. One researcher, Mark Jones, stated that the only legal progress he predicts will be an expansion of the list of qualifying medical conditions. This would follow a recent push for a ballot intiative in Arkansas that would have expanded medical access for patients with conditions not included on the state’s qualifying conditions list. Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston (R) tossed the ballot intiative, going against his past precedents for including new ballot intiatives.
