Cannabis icon and music legend Willie Nelson is urging voters in Dallas to pass a marijuana decriminalization measure that will appear on their local ballots in November.
“Marijuana is an herb and a flower, not a crime,” Nelson said in a press release distributed by Ground Game Texas, which is organizing cannabis campaign, on Friday. “Proposition R in Dallas is about fairness and freedom. It’s long past time to end the criminalization of weed in Texas, and I’m proud to support Ground Game Texas in their efforts. Vote for Prop R and let’s move forward together.”
If approved, the initiative would prevent Dallas police from making arrests or issuing citations for Class A or B misdemeanor cannabis possession offenses, unless it’s part of a high priority felony investigation for narcotics or violent crime.
Further, it says “Dallas police shall not consider the odor of marijuana or hemp to constitute probable cause for any search or seizure.”
The city manager and chief of police would be required to prepare quarterly reports on the implementation of the policy change, with information about any marijuana possession arrests or citations that would be submitted to the Dallas City Council.
Voters in the Texas cities of Lockhart and Bastrop will also decide on local marijuana decriminalization initiatives next month.
“We are honored to have Willie Nelson’s support for the Dallas Freedom Act,” Catina Voellinger, executive director of Ground Game Texas, said on Friday. “Like far too many Texans, Willie knows firsthand how much a weed possession charge can disrupt a life. We’re grateful for his years of advocacy for common sense reform and we look forward to continuing this work across Texas.”
BREAKING: Marijuana is an herb, not a crime. Willie Nelson is standing with us for fairness and freedom in Dallas. Vote YES on Proposition R to support decriminalization and make a difference in our community.@WillieNelson @WilliesReserve pic.twitter.com/iHW4oq1OMA
— GroundGameTX (@GroundGameTX) October 12, 2024
Numerous marijuana decriminalization measures have already been enacted in cities across the Lone Star state in recent years, including Austin, Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen and San Marcos. They generally prevent police from making arrests or issuing citations for Class A or B misdemeanor cannabis possession offenses, unless it’s part of a high priority felony investigation for narcotics or violent crime.
Advocates scored a win in San Marcos in July after a Texas district judge dismissed a lawsuit from the state’s Republican attorney general that sought to overturn a local decriminalization ordinance in that city.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a lawsuit in January challenging local decriminalization laws that were enacted in five cities: Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton. A different district judge had overturned the suit in Austin in June.
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has separately lashed out against the municipal cannabis reform efforts.
“Local communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don’t have the authority to override state law,” the governor said in May “If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let’s legislate to work to make sure that the state, as a state, will pass some of the law.”
He said it would lead to “chaos” and create an “unworkable system” for voters in individual cities to be “picking and choosing” the laws they want abide by under state statute.
Abbott has previously said that he doesn’t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession—although he mistakenly suggested at the time that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.
Paxton had used more inflammatory rhetoric when his office announced that it was suing the five cities over their local laws decriminalizing marijuana, vowing to overrule the “anarchy” of “pro-crime extremists” who advocated for the reform.
Dallas, WE NEED YOU!
Help us knock on doors and get out the vote for marijuana decriminalization! Let’s walk the walk for WEED!
Sign up to volunteer: https://t.co/KwtGggoxUa
Together, we can make history in Dallas! #VoteForWeed #VolunteerForChange #GOTV pic.twitter.com/5Lf7U6pz9m
— GroundGameTX (@GroundGameTX) October 10, 2024
Shortly after voters in Harker Heights approved their measure, the city council overturned the ordinance over concerns that it conflicted with state law. But activists collected signatures for another initiative and successfully repealed the repeal last year—though officials have still refused to move forward with implementing the will of voters.
In November, Ground Game released a report that looked at the impacts of the marijuana reform laws. It found that the measures will keep hundreds of people out of jail, even as they have led to blowback from law enforcement in some cities. The initiatives have also driven voter turnout by being on the ballot, the report said.
Another cannabis decriminalization measure that went before voters in San Antonio last May was overwhelmingly defeated, but that proposal also included unrelated provisions to prevent enforcement of abortion restrictions.
Meanwhile, a poll released last month found that a strong bipartisan majority of Texas voters support decriminalizing marijuana, 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.
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At the state-level last year, the Texas House of Representatives passed a series of bills to decriminalize marijuana, facilitate expungements and allow chronic pain patients to access medical cannabis as an opioid alternative. But they ultimately stalled out in the Senate, which has been a theme for cannabis reform measures in the conservative legislature over several sessions.
The House passed similar cannabis decriminalization proposals during the past two legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019.
Separately, 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’ve allowed Texans to vote on ending prohibition at the ballot box. But the symbolic proposal was ultimately shut down. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) agreed to another member’s point of order, deeming the cannabis amendment not germane to the broader legislation.
Three in five Texans, including a plurality of Republicans, support legalizing marijuana, according to a survey released in May.
Another poll released in 2022 found that nearly three in four Texas voters (72 percent) support decriminalizing marijuana. More than half (55 percent), meanwhile, said they’re in favor of broader legalization. Seventeen percent said it shouldn’t be legal at all.
Photo courtesy of Skechers.
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