Updates

Austin City Council approves ordinance to end most low-level marijuana arrests



Last update: April 30, 2020

In January 2020, the Austin City Council unanimously passed a resolution that limits enforcement action for low-level marijuana possession offenses.



This resolution does the following:

Commits to not wasting city resources on testing THC levels for low-level marijuana offenses; and

To the extent allowable under state law, stops the Austin Police Department from citing and arresting people for marijuana possession cases they know will be rejected by prosecutors.

Still, statewide reform to decriminalize marijuana is long overdue. According to an ACLU report, Texas had the highest total number of marijuana possession arrests in 2018, and African Americans are arrested at 2.6 times the rate of whites. Ask your lawmakers to support replacing criminal penalties with civil fines for marijuana possession.



Please also check out our coalition partners at Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, who are leading the charge for both medical cannabis and civil penalties.

Texas launches low-THC medical marijuana program, but few can participate



In early 2018, the first sales of low-THC medical cannabis began in Texas, pursuant to the Compassionate Use Program. While the program is surely helping some patients, it is flawed, extremely limited, and leaves most patients behind.



Initially, only patients who suffered from serious seizure conditions could participate, leaving behind a huge number of Texans who suffer from other conditions, including cancer, PTSD, and many who will otherwise have to rely on opioid-based medicine. While the law was improved somewhat in 2019, when additional qualifying conditions were added, major flaws remain.



The law unnecessarily puts physicians at risk: State law requires physicians to write prescriptions for marijuana products, yet prescriptions for cannabis are clearly illegal under federal law, placing doctors at potential risk.



As noted, it is also limited to very low-THC cannabis.



Finally, the state approved only three companies to operate medical cannabis businesses in the entire state. Each serves as cultivator, processor, and dispensary for those patients in Texas who qualify.



In past years, lawmakers have proposed comprehensive programs, but none have passed. The legislature doesn’t reconvene again until 2021. Let your lawmakers know voters expect them to do better when they return to Austin.

Contact your legislators



Medical: Ask your state legislators to support a compassionate, comprehensive medical cannabis program.



Decriminalization: Let your lawmakers know it’s time to stop arresting marijuana consumers: Ask them to support changing the penalty for possession from possible jail time to a civil fine.

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