![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-5.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Just a day into the period during which Texas lawmakers can begin prefiling bills ahead of the forthcoming 2025 legislative session, elected officials have already proposed a number of cannabis-related reforms, including measures to legalize cannabis for adults, expand the state\u2019s restrictive low-THC medical program and impose new restrictions on hemp.<\/p>\n
Further marijuana-related bills are likely coming ahead of the legislative session, which doesn\u2019t begin until mid-January. Lawmakers in Texas meet only every two years.<\/p>\n
Heather Fazio, of the group Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, said it\u2019s \u201clikely to be a very consequential legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur state\u2019s cannabis laws are complicated and ineffective,\u201d she told Marijuana Moment. \u201cThankfully lawmakers are taking the issue seriously and filing bills as soon as possible to get the process started.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Disclosure: Fazio supports Marijuana Moment\u2019s work through a monthly Patreon pledge<\/a>.)<\/p>\n The Texas House of Representatives passed a series of bills last session to decriminalize marijuana, facilitate expungements and allow chronic pain patients to access medical cannabis as an opioid alternative. But those proposals ultimately stalled out in the Senate<\/a>, which has been a theme for cannabis reform measures in the conservative legislature in recent sessions.<\/p>\n The House\u00a0passed similar cannabis decriminalization proposals<\/a> during the two prior legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019.<\/p>\n In the House, prefiled bills for the coming session include HB 1208<\/a>, a 28-page plan from Rep. Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez (D) to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana in the state.<\/p>\n It would allow adults 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana, up to 15 grams of which could be in the form of cannabis concentrate. At home, individuals could keep up to 10 ounces, but anything over 2.5 ounces would need to be stored securely. Products on the commercial market would be taxed at 10 percent.<\/p>\n The bill does not appear to allow home cultivation of marijuana for personal use, though its definition of \u201ccannabis\u201d includes \u201cthe plant\u2026whether growing or not.\u201d<\/p>\n HB 1146<\/a>, from Rep. Penny Morales Shaw (D), would expand qualifying conditions by allowing patients to access the state\u2019s low-THC medical marijuana to treat \u201ca condition that causes chronic pain, for which a physician would otherwise prescribe an opioid.\u201d<\/p>\n It would also make eligible patients with \u201ca debilitating medical condition\u201d as defined by the Department of State Health Services and further authorize the department to designate additional conditions by rule.<\/p>\n Other House bills include HB 848<\/a>, from Rep. Joe Moody (D), which would expand the state\u2019s criminal code around cannabis possession and delivery to include \u201cmarihuana concentrate,\u201d and HJR 70<\/a>, a joint resolution from Rep. Ron Reynolds (D) calling for a constitutional amendment that would direct the legislature \u201cby law\u201d to \u201cauthorize and regulate the possession, cultivation, and sale of cannabis for medical use in this state.\u201d<\/p>\n On the hemp side, HB 1113<\/a> from Rep. Briscoe Cain (R) would tighten regulations on research and production in the state. Among other changes, it would establish a permit that would be required of hemp researchers and would create a criminal offense for cultivating hemp without a license. The crime on first offense would be a Class C misdemeanor, which would climb to Class B and Class A misdemeanors on second and subsequent offenses.<\/p>\n The Texas Tribune reported last month that the coming legislative session could see a showdown between the state\u2019s low-THC medical marijuana and hemp industries<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the state Senate, meanwhile, at least two cannabis-related bills have so far been prefiled that are focused on expanding the state\u2019s limited medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n SB 170<\/a>, from Sen. Jos\u00e9 Men\u00e9ndez (D), would effectively expand the state\u2019s low-THC medical cannabis system into one more resembling programs in other legal states, replacing references in state law to \u201clow-THC cannabis\u201d with \u201cmedical cannabis.\u201d It would also add new sections on product testing, packaging and labeling, retail locations across the state, caregivers and other details of the expanded program.<\/p>\n SB 259<\/a>, meanwhile, from Sen. Carol Alvarado (D), would also expand the state medical program. The bill appears to be based on SB 250, which Alvarado introduced in 2020\u00a0and said at the time would \u201cexpand the use of medical marijuana by allowing doctors & science to dictate what conditions & symptoms are eligible for a prescription.\u201d<\/p>\n Austin Zamhariri, executive director of the advocacy organization Texas Cannabis Collective, told Marijuana Moment in a statement that Texas has the opportunity to be a global leader in the cannabis space, but only if state leaders take begin to take action in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we approach the 89th Texas Legislature, it is important to recognize the overwhelming multi partisan support for cannabis reform among Texans,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is evident in both public polling and progressive decriminalization propositions that have passed with hundreds of thousands of votes across 9 different cities over the last 3 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, most recently, voters in three Texas cities\u2014Dallas, Lockhart and Bastrop\u2014approved local marijuana decriminalization ballot initiatives at the polls<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEven President Trump and Governor Abbott have been vocal in ending incarceration for low-level marijuana offenses,\u201d Zamhariri continued. \u201cIt is time for Texas legislators to be in tune with this paradigm shift, and to start working on changes to transition policy from a century of marijuana prohibition to common sense regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n Pre filing of bills for the 89th Texas Legislature begins today. We will be keeping an eye on any legislation submitted in regard to cannabis.<\/p>\n \u2014 Texas Cannabis Collective (@txcannaco) November 12, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n (Disclosure: Texas Cannabis Collective supports Marijuana Moment\u2019s work through a monthly Patreon pledge<\/a>.)<\/p>\n At the local level, in addition to the three cities that passed decriminalization measures last week, cities across the Lone Star state have stopped targeting marijuana use in recent years, including Austin<\/a>,\u00a0Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen and San Marcos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advocates also scored another win in San Marcos in July after a Texas district judge\u00a0dismissed a lawsuit from the state\u2019s Republican attorney general<\/a>\u00a0that sought to overturn a local decriminalization ordinance in that city.<\/p>\n Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit in January\u00a0challenging local decriminalization laws that were enacted in five cities<\/a>: Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton. A\u00a0different district judge had overturned the suit in Austin<\/a>\u00a0in June.<\/p>\n Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has separately lashed out against the municipal cannabis reform efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don\u2019t have the authority to override state law,\u201d\u00a0the governor said in May<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIf they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let\u2019s legislate to work to make sure that the state, as a state, will pass some of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Abbott has previously said that he\u00a0doesn\u2019t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession<\/a>\u2014although he mistakenly suggested at the time that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.<\/p>\n Back at the Capitol, a Texas Democratic senator brought the issue of marijuana legalization to the Senate floor last May, seeking to attach to an unrelated resolution an amendment that would\u2019ve allowed Texans to vote on ending prohibition at the ballot box. But the symbolic proposal was ultimately shut down<\/a>. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) agreed to another member\u2019s point of order, deeming the cannabis amendment not germane to the broader legislation.<\/p>\n A strong\u00a0bipartisan majority of Texas voters support decriminalizing marijuana<\/a>, and more people say they want to reduce restrictions on cannabis than say the same about guns, gambling and abortion in the Lone Star state, according to a poll released in September.<\/p>\n The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) separately released a recent report advising that the state\u2019s limited medical marijuana system \u201cdoes not provide for statewide access for patients\u201d and recommending that the number of licensed dispensaries be significantly expanded<\/a>\u00a0to meet demand.<\/p>\n In Election\u2019s Aftermath, Pennsylvania And Hawaii Appear Most Likely To Legalize Marijuana In 2025, Advocates Predict<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Texas Lawmakers Prefile Bills To Legalize Marijuana In 2025 And Expand Low-THC Medical Cannabis Program<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Just a day into the period during which Texas lawmakers can begin prefiling bills ahead of the forthcoming 2025 legislative session, elected officials have already proposed a number of cannabis-related reforms, including measures to legalize cannabis for adults, expand the state\u2019s restrictive low-THC medical program and impose new restrictions onContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":78994,"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\/78993"}],"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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78995,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78993\/revisions\/78995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-4.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Texas Lawmakers Prefile Bills To Legalize Marijuana In 2025 And Expand Low-THC Medical Cannabis Program<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"