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A Texas Senate committee on Monday approved a House-passed bill to significantly reduce penalties for possessing marijuana concentrates, sending it to the full chamber for consideration.<\/p>\n
This comes as advocates step up their push for separate legislation to expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program and broadly decriminalize possession.<\/p>\n
But while the concentrates measure might be a modest reform in comparison, if enacted it would mark the first time that Texas has reduced penalties associated with marijuana since the 1970s.<\/p>\n
The proposal, sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tem Joe Moody (D), cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee in a 5-2 vote.<\/p>\n
\nIt would create<\/a> a new drug schedule for products containing THC that would carry lower penalties compared to their current felony classification. However, possession of up to two ounces of concentrates would still be a class B misdemeanor that carries the threat of jail time.<\/p>\n The types of products that would be covered under the new category include oils, infused lotions and edibles.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, advocates continue to hold out hope that bills to decriminalize marijuana and expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program will make it through the Senate after passing the House in recent weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Texas legislature hasn\u2019t adjusted our state\u2019s harsh marijuana penalties since the 1970s,\u201d Heather Fazio, director of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cFinally, lawmakers are recognizing the disproportionate punishment for cannabis concentrates. This bill doesn\u2019t get us where we want to go, but it\u2019s a meaningful step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n The decriminalization measure<\/a> would make possession of up to one ounce of cannabis a class C misdemeanor that does not come with the threat of jail time. The\u00a0House approved a cannabis decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in 2019,\u00a0but it did not advance<\/a>\u00a0in the Senate that session.<\/p>\n When it comes to medical cannabis expansion, a House-passed bill<\/a> would add cancer, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as conditions that could qualify people for the state\u2019s limited medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n It would further allow the Department of State Health Services to add more qualifying conditions via administrative rulemaking. And it would also raise the THC cap for medical marijuana products from 0.5 percent to five percent.<\/p>\n \u2014 Many of the current cannabis proposals face an uphill battle in the Senate, where it remains to be seen whether key legislators will have the same appetite for reform that the House does or what kind of changes they might push for in any particular bill.<\/p>\n And perhaps the biggest challenge advocates face is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the Senate and has killed prior efforts to enact marijuana reform in the state, raising questions about the prospects of far-reaching changes advancing in the chamber.<\/p>\n For example, shortly after the House approved a decriminalization bill in 2019, Patrick declared the measure \u201cdead in the Texas Senate,\u201d stating that he sides with lawmakers \u201cwho oppose this step toward legalization of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n That said, Patrick and other legislators acknowledged early in the year that modest proposals would be taken up and potentially approved this session<\/a>, particularly as it concerns expanding the state\u2019s limited medical cannabis program. The lieutenant governor said, \u201csure, that will be looked at this session\u201d when asked about the prospect of expanding access to medical marijuana in January.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re always listening on the health issues, but we\u2019re not going to turn this into California,\u201d he said, \u201cwhere anybody can get a slip from the doctor and go down to some retail store and say, \u2018You know, I got a headache today so I need marijuana,\u2019 because that\u2019s just a veil for legalizing it for recreational use.\u201d<\/p>\n While Patrick could singlehandedly quash the cannabis measures, other legislative leaders are more open to reforms.<\/p>\n House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) said during a Texas Young Republicans event in March that while he wouldn\u2019t be able to distinguish marijuana from oregano,\u00a0he said, \u201cI understand the issue.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The speaker said that he voted for a limited medical cannabis legalization bill during his freshman year in the legislature, and his support for the reform is partly based on the fact that he has a \u201csister with severe epilepsy, and small amounts of CBD oil makes a big difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Phelan also noted that he was a \u201cjoint author\u2014no pun intended\u201d of cannabis decriminalization legislation last session.<\/p>\n \u201cI was able to go back home and explain it, and it wasn\u2019t a big deal,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a reasonable criminal justice reform issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a Senate committee is set to take up a different kind of drug policy reform measure<\/a> on Wednesday. The bill, which cleared the House earlier this month<\/a>, would require the state to conduct a study into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA.<\/p>\n The Senate Veterans Affairs & Border Security Committee is scheduled<\/a> to discuss the proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separate legislation<\/a> to clarify that a positive marijuana test alone is not sufficient criteria for removing a child from their home was enacted without the governor\u2019s signature this month and takes effect on September 1, 2021.<\/p>\n Finally, a hemp-related bill<\/a> that cleared the House has been referred to several Senate committees. It would make certain changes to the state\u2019s program, including imposing rules related to the transportation and testing of consumable hemp products.<\/p>\n Majority Of Pennsylvania Voters Support Drug Decriminalization, Poll Finds Amid Inaction On Marijuana Reform<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Texas Senate Advances Bill To Lower Penalties For Marijuana Concentrates That Already Passed The House<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Texas Senate committee on Monday approved a House-passed bill to significantly reduce penalties for possessing marijuana concentrates, sending it to the full chamber for consideration. This comes as advocates step up their push for separate legislation to expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program and broadly decriminalize possession. But whileContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":47758,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47757"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47759,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47757\/revisions\/47759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Texas Senate Advances Bill To Lower Penalties For Marijuana Concentrates That Already Passed The House<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"