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The Austin City Council on Tuesday approved a proposal to put an activist-led initiative to decriminalize marijuana and ban no-knock police raids on the local ballot in May.<\/p>\n
Ground Game Texas successfully collected enough signatures to place the reform on the Austin ballot<\/a>. The council had a chance to adopt it as an ordinance on its own without putting the issue to voters\u2014which the advocates said they would have preferred\u2014but lawmakers chose instead to simply authorize the initiative for the ballot. The proposal passed in a 7-3 vote.<\/p>\n It was just this month that city officials certified petitions for the ballot initiative. Activists turned in more than 33,000 signatures<\/a> for the measure\u2014about 10,000 more than required to qualify for the May 7 election. On the same day of the local certification, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said that he doesn\u2019t believe people should be incarcerated<\/a> over low-level marijuana possession.<\/p>\n \u201cThe City Council\u2019s vote to schedule an election on the Austin Freedom Act is a testament to the incredible work of our organizers and volunteers who are fighting for progressive change in their community,\u201d Mike Siegel, political director of Ground Game Texas, said<\/a> in a press release. \u201cThanks to their tireless efforts, voters will have the opportunity in May to end the criminalization of marijuana possession and the dangerous practice of no-knock police raids.\u201d<\/p>\n While Austin, as well as other Texas cities like Dallas, have already independently enacted law enforcement policy changes aimed at reducing arrests for cannabis-related offenses by issuing citations and summons, the ordinance adopted by the council would go a step further.<\/p>\n The measure seeks to end arrests and citations for misdemeanor marijuana possession within Texas\u2019s capital city. Also, it says police cannot issue citations for residue or paraphernalia in lieu of a possession charge.<\/p>\n Ahead of the vote on Tuesday, there was some debate over another provision of the proposal<\/a> that would prohibit the execution of no-knock warrants.<\/p>\n Following a closed-door executive session, lawmakers came back and decided against enacting the policy change on their own. Certain members emphasized that they felt it was important to hear what Austin voters think about the reform.<\/p>\n The Austin City Council will vote Tuesday 9am on whether to adopt the Austin Freedom Act into law, or call an election for voters to decide.<\/p>\n A very exciting moment \u2014 especially for the 34,000 people who signed the petition to stop marijuana arrests and end no-knock warrants! https:\/\/t.co\/md8kQ3gqP6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 GroundGameTX (@GroundGameTX) January 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The\u00a0measure\u00a0would further prohibit the use of city funds to request or test cannabis to determine whether it meets the state\u2019s definition of a lawful product. Hemp is legal in the state, creating complications for law enforcement, as they are now tasked with determining if seized cannabis products are in compliance with state statute.<\/p>\n \u201cIn less than a year, Ground Game Texas has demonstrated the power of grassroots organizing to affect progressive change,\u201d Julie Oliver, executive director of Ground Game Texas, said. \u201cWe will continue working with local groups and volunteers to launch efforts like these across Texas, bringing new voters into the fold and mobilizing them behind progressive policies for their community.\u201d<\/p>\n The group previously attempted to place the initiative on the November 2021 ballot<\/a>, but they did not meet the signature turn-in deadline and shifted their attention to 2022.<\/p>\n The group has also launched campaigns to put marijuana decriminalization on local ballots in Killeen and Harker Heights, and activists in San Marcos began a similar campaign in September.<\/p>\n \u2014 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 recent poll found that a strong majority of Texans\u2014including most Republicans\u2014support even broader reform to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0for adult use.<\/p>\n The survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University found that 67 percent of Texas residents back the broad reform. Fifty-one percent of participants who identified as Republican said they back legalization.<\/p>\n In Texas, drug policy reform did advance in the legislature during last year\u2019s session, but not necessarily at the pace that advocates had hoped to see.<\/p>\n A bill to\u00a0expand the state\u2019s medical cannabis program<\/a>\u00a0and another to require a study into\u00a0the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics<\/a>\u00a0for military veterans were enacted.<\/p>\n Advocates remain disappointed, however, that lawmakers were\u00a0unable to pass more expansive cannabis bills<\/a>\u2014including a decriminalization proposal that cleared the House but saw no action in the Senate.<\/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 The\u00a0Texas Republican Party adopted a platform plank<\/a>\u00a0endorsing decriminalization of marijuana possession in 2018.<\/p>\n A Texas poll that was released over the summer found that 60 percent of voters in the state\u00a0support making cannabis legal \u201cfor any use.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n U.S. Senate Candidate Smokes Marijuana Blunt In Campaign Ad About Harms Of Criminalization<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Austin Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Initiative For May Ballot<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Austin City Council on Tuesday approved a proposal to put an activist-led initiative to decriminalize marijuana and ban no-knock police raids on the local ballot in May. Ground Game Texas successfully collected enough signatures to place the reform on the Austin ballot. The council had a chance to adoptContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":52365,"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\/52364"}],"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=52364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52366,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52364\/revisions\/52366"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Austin Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Decriminalization Initiative For May Ballot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"