Politics
Dallas Lawmakers Officially Put Marijuana Decriminalization On The City’s November Ballot Despite Police Chief’s Concerns
Local lawmakers in Dallas, Texas have now formally put a marijuana decriminalization initiative on the city’s November ballot—positioning voters to enact the reform in the state’s third largest city by population over the objections of the police chief.
About a month after officials certified that activists with Ground Game Texas had turned in enough valid signatures to qualify for ballot placement, the Dallas City Council on Wednesday voted 11-4 to make it official.
If voters ultimately approve the initiative, possession of up to four ounces of marijuana would be decriminalized in Dallas.
“Ground Game’s work across the state underscores the stark disconnect between the will of Texans and the outdated, out-of-touch leadership that governs without engaging the communities they serve,” the group’s executive director, Catina Voellinger, said in a press release. “We aren’t organizing around hyperbole; we’ve seen firsthand the destruction caused by these draconian laws, and we are saying enough.”
Some members of the City Council had expressed interest in streamlining the process of decriminalizing cannabis by acting legislatively, but plans to introduce the proposal at a hearing in June did not materialize, leaving the matter to voters.
While several members spoke out in favor of the proposed reform, Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia and other local legislators have voiced opposition, claiming that decriminalization would cause complications for law enforcement. Advocates have strongly pushed back against that notion, pointing to other cities that have enacted decriminalization without those concerns coming to fruition.
“We are glad to see Dallas City Council’s 11-4 vote to forward the Dallas Freedom Act to the general election ballot,” Austin Zamhariri, executive director of Texas Cannabis Collective, told Marijuana Moment. “This is certainly more in tune with the attitudes of the citizens than Police Chief Eddie Garcia, who is more concerned with dime bag weed dealers than allocating limited police resources towards serious crimes.”
“We are confident the residents of Dallas will make the right choice for their city and decriminalize misdemeanor marijuana possession this November,” he said.
(Disclosure: Texas Cannabis Collective supports Marijuana Moment’s work with a monthly Patreon pledge.)
The measure would 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.
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.
“The Dallas Freedom Act is about more than just marijuana—it’s a step toward broader social justice, smarter use of public resources, and protecting civil liberties in Dallas,” Ground Game Field Director Natalie Marquez said.
“This campaign is for the grandmothers who signed the petition to make sure their grandchildren never have a bad interaction with the law. It’s for veterans who want to combat their PTSD with cannabis, but are afraid of getting into legal trouble,” she said. “This campaign is dedicated to everyone who has lost years of their lives being locked up for a joint and to ensure that no one else has to endure the same injustice.”
Also this month, local lawmakers in Lockhart, Texas officially placed another marijuana decriminalization initiative 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.
The city of Bastrop will also decide on a local marijuana decriminalization initiative 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 last month 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 against 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.
Last March, the same institution similarly showed that a majority of Texas voters feel that the state’s marijuana laws should be “less strict.”
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
