Republican marijuana activists in Texas are calling on the governor to put further expansions to the state\u2019s medical cannabis program on the agenda for a special legislative session he\u2019s convened for this week.<\/p>\n
While Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed legislation last month to moderately expand the medical marijuana law<\/a> by adding qualifying conditions and slightly increasing the THC limit for marijuana products, Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition (RAMP) is hoping to see further action during the session that starts on Thursday.<\/p>\n Specifically, they\u2019re urging the governor to use his unilateral authority to place on the session agenda measures that would allow regulators to add even more qualifying conditions for patients, such as chronic pain, and to further adjust the THC limit.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the 87th Legislative Session, the legislature passed HB 1535, which allows for all forms of cancer and patients with PTSD to now qualify for the program, increases the THC cap from 0.5 percent to 1 percent, and facilitates research programs,\u201d RAMP said. \u201cWhile these are important changes, critical aspects of the bill were removed in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n The group is circulating a petition<\/a>\u2014supported by Texas NORML and Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy\u2014to build pressure on the governor to call for the cannabis reforms. So far, it has more than 4,000 signatures, out of its goal of 6,400.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the Governor of Texas, only you decide what can be on the agenda for a special session,\u201d it says. \u201cPlease add medical cannabis to the agenda and help save lives in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n As it stands, Abbott has said the session will focus on election restrictions that Republicans failed to enact earlier this year. Lawmakers also still need to finalize the state budget after the governor vetoed the version that passed in the regular session.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a newly established progressive group in the state called Ground Game Texas unveiled a campaign last week to put an initiative to decriminalize cannabis possession<\/a> and ban no-knock warrants on this November\u2019s ballot in Austin.<\/p>\n Former Democratic congressional candidate Mike Siegel, founder of the organization, suggested on Friday that tapping into the popularity of marijuana reform at the local level could \u201cunlock massive progressive victories\u201d across the state in 2022.<\/p>\n What if 30 Texas cities have marijuana decriminalization on their ballots next year?<\/p>\n What would that mean for races up and down the ballot, for City Council, for Mayor, for District Attorney, for State House, for Congress, for Governor?<\/p>\n Can we flip Texas with the help of weed?<\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Siegel (@SiegelForTexas) July 2, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cWhat if 30 Texas cities have marijuana decriminalization on their ballots next year? he asked in a Twitter post. \u201cWhat would that mean for races up and down the ballot, for City Council, for Mayor, for District Attorney, for State House, for Congress, for Governor? Can we flip Texas with the help of weed?\u201d<\/p>\n There is no statewide, citizen-led initiative process that would enable advocates to put an issue like decriminalization or legalization on the Texas ballot. But at the local level, there are limited cases where activists can leverage home rule laws that allow for policy changes.<\/p>\n A strong majority of Texans back even broader reform, according to recent polling. Sixty percent of voters in the state\u00a0support making cannabis legal \u201cfor any use,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0signaling that local initiatives for more modest proposals like decriminalization will likely prevail where they qualify for local ballots.<\/p>\n With respect to the recently ended regular legislative session, advocates remain disappointed that they were unable to pass more expansive cannabis bills<\/a>\u2014including a decriminalization proposal that cleared the House but saw no action in the Senate.<\/p>\n Also this session, however, the governor allowed a bill to be enacted without his signature that will require the state to study the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics<\/a> for military veterans.<\/p>\n The\u00a0House approved a cannabis decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in 2019,\u00a0but it did not advance<\/a>\u00a0in the Senate that session.<\/p>\n South Dakota Marijuana Activists Unveil Four Legalization Initiatives For 2022 Ballot, Pending Supreme Court Decision<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Texas GOP Marijuana Activists Push Governor To Support Further Reform During Special Session This Week<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Republican marijuana activists in Texas are calling on the governor to put further expansions to the state\u2019s medical cannabis program on the agenda for a special legislative session he\u2019s convened for this week. While Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed legislation last month to moderately expand the medical marijuana law byContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"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\/48660"}],"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=48660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48661,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48660\/revisions\/48661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Texas GOP Marijuana Activists Push Governor To Support Further Reform During Special Session This Week<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"