Texas House backs lower penalty for low-level marijuana possession
The penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana would be reduced to the equivalent of a traffic ticket under a measure that won initial approval from the Texas House on Monday, although its fate in the Senate remains uncertain in a state that long has taken a hard line against pot use.
House Bill 63, approved 98-43 after about 30 minutes of debate, would make possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500 but no jail time. Currently, possession of 2 ounces or less in Texas is a Class B misdemeanor, with a maximum fine of $2,000 and up to 180 days in jail.
“This isn’t about whether marijuana is good or bad. It is about whether what we are doing on enforcement is good policy — we all know it’s not,” said El Paso Democrat Joe Moody, the bill’s author. HB 63 “is simply saying we are not going to lock up 75,000 Texans a year for this low-level offense, and we are not going to spend three quarters of a billion dollars every year at the local taxpayer level” doing so.
Nearly three dozen states — including all four Texas border states — have broadly legalized marijuana for medical purposes in recent years, while 10 states also allow adult recreational use. Texas last eased its marijuana penalties in 1973, when it re-classified low-volume possession from what had been a felony punishable by two years to life behind bars.
Read more: https://www.statesman.com/news/20190429/texas-house-backs-lower-penalty-for-low-level-marijuana-possession
= new reply since forum marked as read
