Texas NORML and other advocates had sought to further amend the bill to include eligibility for chronic pain patients and to raise the THC to five percent. House lawmakers agreed to the additional changes, but members of the Senate ultimately removed those provisions.
“APD will no longer cite or arrest individuals with sufficient identification for Class A or Class B misdemeanor ‘possession of marijuana’ offenses.”
Patients and medical professionals provided hours of testimony for seven bills that address medical cannabis in Texas, including our priority legislation HB 1365, which was authored by State Representative Eddie Lucio III.
In the Texas State Capitol Building, dozens of patients joined us to ask their legislators to coauthor legislation that will make the Texas Compassionate Use Program more inclusive and effective.
More than 400 Texans from across the Lone Star State rallied in Austin to lobby state lawmakers in support of marijuana law reforms. Attendees received a free advocacy training and additional resources to support their lobbying efforts.
Members of Texas NORML are energized and hopeful for meaningful marijuana law reforms after the 2018 midterm elections where twelve incumbents were replaced with Freshman in the House and two in the Senate. State lawmakers have begun introducing legislation for consideration during the upcoming 2019 Texas legislative session.
It is important that we keep our lobbying efforts alive and sustain the work we are doing at the Capitol and across the state. There will be major opportunities in front of us that we must be ready to capitalize on.
We learned a lot. We are carbon pressed to diamonds. We must continue to slice away at prohibition!
HB 81, to decriminalize marijuana from jail time to a simple ticket, will be heard by the full Texas House.