House Bill could lessen penalties for small amounts of cannabis
With less than a month left for the 86th Texas Legislature to get things done, some proposed bills regarding cannabis are languishing in committees and at least one has been quashed by Senate leadership.
House Bill 63, which would lessen the penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis, passed by a wide margin in the House – the unofficial total was 103 votes for the bill, 42 against and two members not voting. Hays County Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-Driftwood) was one of the coauthors of the bill.
When the bill was sent to the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee, however, Chair John Whitmire reportedly said he is not likely to give the bill a hearing. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said on Twitter that, “Criminal Justice Chair @Whitmire_John is right that #HB 63 is dead in the @Texas Senate. I join with those House Republicans who oppose this step toward legalization of marijuana.”
HB 63 – authored by Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso) – is not the only house bill aiming to lessen the punishment for possession of small amounts of cannabis. HB 335, proposed by Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) has the same purpose and passed out of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee by a vote of 7-2. HB 1206, filed by Rep. Sheryl Cole (D-Austin) not only means to lessen the penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis but would decrease the penalty for possession of more than 2,000 pounds from a felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison and a fine not to exceed $50,000 to a second-degree felony. That bill passed out of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee with a vote of 6-3, according to the Texas Legislature website.
Other bills regarding cannabis use, including its medical uses, remain in committees in the House and Senate. Sen. Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) wrote a bill, SB 2416, that would facilitate the medical use of low-THC cannabis (THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the ingredient in cannabis that causes a “high”). Campbell’s bill was filed March 8, and it remains in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
Senate Joint Resolution 8 (proposed by Sen. Jose Rodriguez, D-El Paso) and its companion House Joint Resolution 108 (proposed by Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg) would call for a state constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis. SJR 8 remains in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, and HJR 108 is still in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, according to the Texas Legislature’s website.
According to data compiled by the Hays County judge’s office, possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana has been the most common offense for which people are arrested in Hays County. The data shows that in 2013, 519 arrests and 310 convictions were made; in 2014, 514 arrests and 324 convictions were made; in 2015, 617 arrests and 295 convictions were made; in 2016, 815 arrests and 353 convictions were made; and in 2017, 866 arrests and 264 convictions were made for possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana.
