Politics
Bipartisan Majority Of Texas Voters Back Marijuana Decriminalization, New Poll Shows
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, according to a new poll.
As the November election approaches, the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project survey offers another example of how the country might be divided on the presidential race and other issues, but with marijuana reform standing out as uniquely popular across party lines.
Asked whether the penalty for possession or use of cannabis should be reduced to a citation and fine, 68 percent said they support that proposal, including 42 percent who said they “strongly” favor it. A majority of Democrats (81 percent), Republicans (59 percent) and independents (61 percent) all expressed support for the reform.
The survey also inquired about voters’ positions on whether they feel laws concerning a variety of issues should be more strict, less strict or stay the same. And of those issues, reducing restrictions on marijuana proved most popular at 50 percent. Just 25 percent said cannabis laws should be more strict, while 18 percent said they should be left as they are.
By contrast, 49 percent of respondents said abortion restrictions should be loosened, 34 percent said gambling rules should be less strict, 22 percent said voting laws should be relaxed and only 13 percent said the same about gun laws. In fact, even in the conservative stronghold state, 58 percent said gun regulations should be more strict.
Last year’s version of the University of Texas/Texas Politics Project survey showed similar support for cannabis decriminalization.
Meanwhile, several Texas cities will be deciding on local marijuana decriminalization initiatives at the ballot this November. Most recently, lawmakers in Lockhart officially placed the reform on the ballot—reaching a compromise with activists after the city attorney attempted to revise the proposal in a way that supporters worried would face legal challenges and potentially upend the reform.
Voters in the Texas cities of Dallas and Bastrop will also decide on local marijuana decriminalization initiatives this fall.
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 also scored another 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.
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.
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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.
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Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
