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Texas activists have turned in more than enough signatures to put a local measure on the May ballot<\/a> to overturn lawmakers\u2019 repeal of a voter-approved marijuana decriminalization initiative. But they\u2019re also facing another legal challenge in a different city where voters passed a similar reform last month.<\/p>\n The response from lawmakers and prosecutors to the multiple reforms that was approved during the November election has been a source of frustration for advocates, including those who were part of the main organizing group Ground Game Texas.<\/p>\n But they\u2019ve shown that they won\u2019t back down and are prepared to fight to defend the will of voters. That\u2019s been especially clear in Harker Heights, where the City Council voted to repeal the local decriminalization measure. Activists quickly collected signatures to put an initiative on the next ballot to repeal the action.<\/p>\n Officials announced<\/a> on Thursday that they had turned in enough valid signatures to qualify for ballot placement. It is expected to be officially certified at a Council meeting on January 10.<\/p>\n Harker Heights Assistant City Manager Jerry Bark said in a press release that the \u201cexamination of the petition has been completed and it is determined that the petition meets all requirements in accordance with the State law and City Charter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe certification of the referendum does not revive Chapter 133 (Prop A),\u201d he added. \u201cAdditionally, the City will continue to respect and operate under the laws of the State of Texas that mandate the required conduct for law enforcement officers and prohibit the adoption of a policy under which the City will not fully enforce laws relating to drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n The petition\u2019s success is positive news for advocates, but they\u2019re separately facing a legal challenge in Killeen, with Bell County commissioners voting<\/a> unanimously on Thursday to file a lawsuit against the city on the basis that, from their perspective, voters cannot locally decriminalize cannabis if it\u2019s illegal at the state level.<\/p>\n That lawsuit has the support of Bell County District Attorney Henry Garza, who said<\/a> that last week\u2019s commission vote \u201cwas really the beginning of getting this particular question before a court: What is the effect of a local municipal ordinance when it comes into conflict with state law?\u201d<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe county commissioners voted to direct the county attorney and [himself] to get involved in the beginning to get that question answered,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the only way to get it into court to begin a legal action.\u201d It\u2019s unclear when the lawsuit will be filed.<\/p>\n Ground Game Texas saw several success in last month\u2019s election, with decriminalization passing locally in Denton, Elgin and San Marcos, in addition to Harker Heights and Killeen.<\/p>\n Activists are keeping their eyes on San Marcos, too. An outgoing district attorney recently made a request that the state attorney general issue an opinion on a separate decriminalization initiative that voters approved overwhelmingly there.<\/p>\n The reform measures might be new to the cities where lawmakers are raising concerns, but they\u2019re not without precedent in the Lone Star state. Austin voters, for example,\u00a0strongly approved a marijuana decriminalization measure<\/a>\u00a0this past May\u2014and it doesn\u2019t appear that the city has grappled with any major legal battles over the modest policy change.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, San Antonio, the second largest Texas city by population, could\u00a0get the chance to locally decriminalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in May 2023 after activists announced in October that they were launching a signature drive for ballot placement.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s been a surge of local action on marijuana issues under home rule laws in Texas over recent years, statewide reform has generally stalled in the conservative legislature.<\/p>\n The\u00a0House approved a cannabis decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in 2019,\u00a0but it did not advance<\/a>\u00a0in the Senate that session Lawmakers have since been\u00a0unable to pass additional expansive cannabis bills<\/a>\u00a0in recent sessions.<\/p>\n For his part, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said that\u00a0he doesn\u2019t believe people should be incarcerated<\/a>\u00a0over low-level marijuana possession. However, the governor incorrectly suggested that lawmakers have already adopted the policy statewide.<\/p>\n A poll released this month found that a majority of Texas voters support legalizing marijuana<\/a>, and about four in five residents feel cannabis should be legal for either medical or recreational use.<\/p>\n House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) said in September that he will work to\u00a0enact criminal justice reform in the 2023 session<\/a>, and he again expressed support for lowering penalties for marijuana possession.<\/p>\n \u2014 Former U.S. Rep. Beto O\u2019Rourke (D), who was the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Texas this year,\u00a0has long advocated for an end to marijuana prohibition<\/a>\u00a0and included the reform as a tenet of his campaign.\u00a0But he ultimately lost the race to Abbott.<\/p>\n There were some drug policy reforms that 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 The\u00a0Texas Republican Party adopted a platform plank<\/a>\u00a0endorsing decriminalization of marijuana possession in 2018, but that was later rescinded.<\/p>\n Separately, the state Supreme Court\u00a0heard testimony in March<\/a>\u00a0in a case concerning the state\u2019s ban on manufacturing smokable hemp products\u2014the latest development in a drawn-out legal battle on the policy first proposed and challenged in 2020.<\/p>\n In San Antonio, activists will need to collect at least 20,000 valid signatures from registered voters by early January to qualify for the May 2023 ballot. The groups said they plan to submit a minimum of 35,000 signatures.<\/p>\n Schumer Makes \u2018Pledge\u2019 To Tackle Federal Marijuana Decriminalization \u2018Next Year\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Texas Marijuana Activists Submit Enough Signatures To Challenge Local Decriminalization Repeal, While Another City\u2019s Reform Faces Lawsuit<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Texas activists have turned in more than enough signatures to put a local measure on the May ballot to overturn lawmakers\u2019 repeal of a voter-approved marijuana decriminalization initiative. But they\u2019re also facing another legal challenge in a different city where voters passed a similar reform last month. The response fromContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":59855,"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\/59854"}],"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=59854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59856,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59854\/revisions\/59856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Texas Marijuana Activists Submit Enough Signatures To Challenge Local Decriminalization Repeal, While Another City\u2019s Reform Faces Lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"