When will marijuana be legalized in Texas? Here are the factors affecting legislation
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Marijuana in Texas
With Texas lawmakers meeting in less than a year, what will the conversation be like around marijuana laws, including legalization?
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When will marijuana be legalized in Texas? Here are the factors affecting legislation
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When Austin Zamhariri of Haltom City visited Colorado several years back, he recalls asking himself a question: “How hard can it be to legalize marijuana in Texas?”
Colorado had legalized recreational marijuana a few years earlier in 2012, and Zamhariri found himself ready to advocate for expanded marijuana laws in Texas. About seven years later, Zamhariri, now the creator and executive director of Texas Cannabis Collective, has his answer: “Very hard, very difficult.”
Still, he and other advocates haven’t lost hope. Texas has taken small steps in recent years in the realm of medical marijuana, and there’s growing support among politicians for decriminalization, or even legalization.
“You’re going to see great change,” Zamhariri said, though those changes may not come quickly.
About 70% of Tarrant County candidates for the Texas Legislature who responded to a Star-Telegram survey support some degree of marijuana legalization. The support for expanded use spans party lines as a growing number of states legalize weed.
Eighteen states and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and 37 allow it for medical use. Even Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is seeking reelection, has said he’s willing to reduce penalties for low-level possession offenses.
In recent years, Texas has inched toward expanded use, allowing low-level THC for the treatment of certain medical conditions through a state program. However, advocates say Texas has a long way to go before it sees legalization, despite other states’ willingness to change marijuana laws.
Texas faces, in the words of Zamhariri, a “triple whammy.”
Texas doesn’t have a statewide method for voters to propose laws and get them on a ballot through a petition, and the Legislature meets once every other year. Texas is also a conservative state. Despite growing Republican support, legalization has traditionally been an issue supported more among Democrats.
“It’s not going to be something that just happens overnight,” Zamhariri said.
Where do Texas lawmakers, candidates stand?
A Star-Telegram survey of the 21 candidates in Tarrant County’s contested House or Senate races found that 13 of the 19 candidates who responded were for legalization, though five of them supported legalization only for medical use. Of the candidates who supported some form of legalization, five are Democrats and eight are Republicans.
Nearly every candidate for Texas governor said they support legalizing marijuana for at least medical use. Three Republican candidates and every Democrat who responded want it fully legalized, and two additional Republicans said they’d support legalization for medical purposes.
Abbott didn’t go as far as supporting legalization for medical or recreational use.
He raised concerns about the abuse of marijuana if legalized but said he’s open to reducing penalties for certain possession charges.
“One thing I don’t want to see is jails stockpiled with people who were convicted with possession of small amounts of marijuana,” Abbott said. “I remain open to talking with the legislature about reducing the penalties of possession of small amounts of marijuana from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor.”
Both still have primaries to contend with, but Abbott’s likely November challenger if he wins a place on the ballot is Democrat Beto O’Rourke, the former El Paso congressman who challenged Ted Cruz for Senate in 2018 and ran for president in 2020.
O’Rourke has advocated for full legalization. At a January campaign stop in Austin, O’Rourke said “Black and brown Texans” are disproportionately stopped and arrested for marijuana possession. He said the prohibition on marijuana should end and arrest records should be expunged.
“This is not a Democratic Party issue or even a Republican Party issue,” O’Rourke said. “It is overwhelmingly popular in the state of Texas. It’s not just among young people. It’s among all people.”
Sixty-seven percent of Texans support legalizing the sale and use of recreational marijuana, according to a November poll from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University.
SMU political science professor Cal Jillson expects to see movement toward legalization in the state proceed incrementally.
“There are baby steps that Texas Republicans are more likely to take, even though they are now recognizing the, sort of, fiscal implications of imprisoning so many people and the impact that has on their later life,” Jillson said.
But politics remain a factor, he said.
“Democrats will be willing to take strides, where Republicans will be wanting to take baby steps and measure any pushback they may get for those baby steps,” Jillson said.
Texas expands Compassionate Use Program
In 2006, David Bass of Kileen was ready to retire from the Army after more than 20 years of service. But as he tried to make the life transition, Bass began to notice unusual symptoms: hyper-vigilance and nightmares. Anger, outbursts, paranoia.
He knew something was wrong and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. He was prescribed psychotropic pills to help.
“I didn’t like them,” he said. “I didn’t like them at all.”
The side effects made him feel unlike himself, but he took them for years. When a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist told him it’d be years before he could stop taking the medication, he took matters into his own hands and began doing research.
“I found these two strange words, medical and marijuana being used together,” he said.
Bass procured some marijuana illegally to see if it could help. After a month, the results were positive. A year later, by the end of 2012, he’d stopped taking the psychotropic drugs and opioids for his injuries.
Cannabis works, he said.
“I proved it with my own body and mind,” he said.
Bass, the founder of Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana, was among those advocating for expansion of the Texas Compassionate Use Program. Texas doesn’t have full-fledged medical marijuana, but it does allow low-THC cannabis to be used for the treatment of certain medical conditions.
As of January, there are about 18,000 patients enrolled in the program. Just over 500 physicians are approved to prescribe low-THC cannabis.
When first passed in 2015, the law only applied to patients with intractable epilepsy. However, Fort Worth Republican Stephanie Klick has carried bills to expand the program in recent sessions. It can now be used to help those with autism, seizure disorders and multiple sclerosis.
All forms of cancer and PTSD were added during the past legislative session.
Now, each day Bass takes several cannabis gummies.
“I’m a legal medical cannabis patient in Texas,” Bass said. “But that program needs to be improved, and of course, other marijuana laws in Texas need to be improved.”
Klick doesn’t support recreational use, but has advocated for a “data driven approach” to expanding the program.
“When we have data that shows efficacy with a new condition, we’ve gone forth and tried to add it as a qualified condition to the Texas program,” she said.
The most recent legislation included a research component that could inform further expansion of the program.
“I think that’s very important because it will help us get the data that we need to know what conditions actually might benefit from these products,” Klick said.
Advocates want Texas to do more on recreational, medical use
Zamhariri of Texas Cannabis Collective was both pleased and disappointed with the Legislature’s action on the Compassionate Use Program. The THC level was raised, but an earlier version of the bill would have allowed a higher THC content and included chronic pain as a qualifying condition.
“That would have been the complete icebreaker,” he said. “You could have pretty much got anybody in the state of Texas into the program with chronic pain.”
Bass laid out incremental steps he’d like to see lawmakers take in the coming years. His goal for 2023 is to raise the THC limit for the Compassionate Use Program and convince state leaders to leave the limit up to doctors.
“The Legislature doesn’t tell my doctor how many milligrams of opioids he can prescribe to me. That’s up to the doctor,” he said. “So the Legislature shouldn’t be telling the doctors, the TCUP doctors, how many milligrams of THC … should be prescribed today.”
If the limit is raised enough, then the conversation should shift to legalizing cannabis flower, which can be smoked, he said.
Bass’ group focuses on the medical side of marijuana but does support legalization.
“I don’t think it’s just for people to be arrested for possessing cannabis,” he said. “I could have been arrested at any time and had my whole life thrown into disarray, if that would have happened.”
Zamharir, who was arrested in Grapevine in 2010 for marijuana possession, knows what that’s like. He was scared he’d lose his children and of going through the criminal justice system.
“Nobody should have to go through anything like that,” he said.
Addressing arrest for low level marijuana possession is a top priority for Zamhariri when lawmakers next meet in 2023. Getting a committee hearing would be a major step, he said.
“A lot of legislators, they support penalties reduction, they support medical marijuana, but they just do not support legalization for whatever reason,” he said. “So, what we want to do is actually have that conversation. We need to start moving that ball forward because ... it’s a matter of when not if.”
Law enforcement officials raise concerns
If changes are going to be made to state marijuana laws, there has to be efforts to address law enforcement concerns, Zamhariri said.
The Texas Municipal Police Association is apprehensive of legalization and decriminalization of marijuana but for a reason that some might not expect: The lack of “court approved, readily available, standardized field sobriety tests for marijuana,” said Executive Director Kevin Lawrence.
Currently, a DUI case for marijuana in Texas relies on an officer’s observations or video of how a person is impaired — lethargy, lack of responsiveness — and a drug recognition expert’s interview of the person, Lawrence said.
“There’s just not enough DREs in the state of Texas to go around,” Lawrence said.
A law change legalizing hemp in 2019 has complicated the testing of marijuana and the prosecution of marijuana cases. The state also doesn’t have a set legal limit for intoxication like it does for alcohol, said Brian Hawthorne, the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas’s legislative chairman.
Lawrence also raised concerns that legalization would increase crime, traffic accidents and the number of people experiencing homelessness.
Despite their concerns, Lawrence said the group’s members are split on the issue.
“Probably half our members think it ought to be legalized,” he said. “The other half don’t think it ought to be legalized, and it’s probably split right along a certain age group. The ones above a certain age say ‘hell no,’ and the ones below a certain age say ‘why not?”
Hawthorne said the sheriff’s group doesn’t oppose the legitimate use of medical marijuana, but is against recreational use.
“I guess it’s all a matter of of opinion, but I would say from the conservative base of your local sheriff, you’re going to find that we don’t necessarily see where there has been a true gain or an improvement of the quality of life of a community based upon legalizing marijuana,” he said.
The group is open to having conversations around reducing penalties for misdemeanor marijuana possession cases.
Advocates say opposition from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has halted marijuana laws in the Senate. Patrick did not return an interview request and did not answer questions for the Star-Telegram’s candidate questionnaire.
“He is the sole person in the state Legislature who is holding up marijuana reform in the state of Texas,” said Julie Oliver, the executive director of Ground Game Texas.
Full legalization must come from the state or federal level, she said. But the group is advocating for decriminalization locally.
“Citizens can take this into their own hands and their own communities and do this,” Oliver said.
What’s next for Fort Worth, North Texas
Texas cities have begun petition drives to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. In Killeen, there’s a push for the city to end the issuance of citations and arrests for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana offenses. Similar efforts, with the support of Ground Game Texas, are underway in Austin, San Marcos and Harker Heights.
Denton is one of the latest to take the approach. Tristan Seikel, the co-founder and organizer of Decriminalize Denton, said they’re in the process of gathering signatures to decriminalize marijuana.
“We’re kind of surrounded by people that are ahead of us,” Seikel said, referring to Denton’s proximity to Dallas and Oklahoma. “So it’s really important that Denton keeps pace to where our nation is headed.”
The municipal approach is being taken since action hasn’t been taken on a statewide level. Lisa Sewell, who lives in Fort Worth and works with Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, expects to see a piecemeal approach continue until a statewide bill is passed.
“I think ongoing, it’s just going to be this patchwork until we can get state legislation passed,” she said.
Tarrant County announced a cite and release program in June. Police officers can choose to issue a citation to people accused of certain misdemeanors, including possessing less than 4 ounces of marijuana.
Fort Worth City Council Member Elizabeth Beck said Texas is missing out on potential revenue. In California — the only state more populous than Texas — there has been climbing revenue from marijuana taxes, with the state reporting more than $330 million in revenue during 2021’s second quarter, according to The Sacramento Bee.
From a criminal justice perspective, Beck said attitudes toward marijuana have changed, and she questioned why people were being incarcerated or having their futures impacted. She’d be in favor of having law enforcement not arrest those found with small amounts of marijuana if no other crime has been committed. An exact threshold for the policy would need to be studied more, she said.
“I truly look forward to having the conversation with my colleagues, and I think there’s a real opportunity for us to work with council and our criminal justice community... to create some change in the community around this particular issue,” Beck said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
