Marijuana advocates urge Texas lawmakers to back decriminalization for low-volume possession

The threat of jail and life-altering criminal records for Texans caught with small amounts of pot spurred dozens of marijuana proponents to turn out Monday to urge lawmakers to make 2019 the year for the infraction to be decriminalized in the state.

They were countered at the Capitol by a handful of representatives of police agencies, who said substantive penalties are necessary to head off a variety of societal problems associated with what they described as a gateway drug.

"Decriminalizing or legalizing (marijuana) is just something that the state of Texas should not accept," Jimmy Perdue, police chief of North Richland Hills and a board member of the Texas Police Chiefs Association, said during a hearing over House Bill 63, which would decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by making it a civil offense punishable by a $250 fine.

While HB 63 wouldn't actually legalize low-volume possession, Perdue said he views it "as a pathway to that process."

But backers of the bill -- including some members of the criminal justice system as well as academics, military veterans and people who said they were previously arrested for low-volume possession -- contended that the penalties in Texas far outweigh the transgression, saying lives shouldn't be ruined over something already legal or decriminalized in many other states.

"We have to decide when enough is enough and be smart on crime," Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez said. "Our jails are filled with low-level offenses, and we need to stop that."

HB 63 -- authored by state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, a member of the House's Criminal Jurisprudence Committee that held Monday's hearing -- is one of a number of high-profile cannabis-related initiatives that proponents have pinned their hopes on during this year's legislative session as they try to loosen the state's strict prohibitions. Others include legislation to make marijuana for medical purposes available to more Texans at greater potency than it is now, and to allow farmers in the state to grow and market hemp — marijuana’s nonpsychoactive cousin — as an agricultural product to the extent allowed under federal law.

The committee left HB 63 pending after the nearly three-hour public hearing without taking a vote on it.

Similar decriminalization efforts by Moody have made headway during past legislative sessions, clearing the House jurisprudence committee and drawing increasing levels of bipartisan support before ultimately falling short. In 2017, the legislation advanced farther than any other marijuana-related effort -- getting scheduled for a vote of the full House -- but it got caught in a logjam at the end of legislative session and wasn't taken up.

HB 63 "is six years in the making," Moody said Monday. "It's an opportunity for us to be a lot smarter and fairer in our marijuana enforcement laws."

He and other backers disputed the contention made by some of the law enforcement representatives that marijuana is a gateway substance that leads to more serious drug use, or that decriminalization of low-volume possession will fuel more crime and public safety concerns.

"There is no reason to think Texas would see a spike in crime" if the state lowers its penalties, said Katharine Harris, a drug policy expert at Rice University's Baker Institute.

Possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana currently is a Class B misdemeanor in Texas, punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 and 180 days in jail. HB 63 would reduce the penalty for possession of an ounce or less to a civil fine of $250 for the first three infractions, after which it would be a Class C misdemeanor carrying a penalty of up to $500 but no jail time.

While the decriminalization effort appears to have some momentum early in this year's legislative session, it's unclear if Gov. Greg Abbott supports it.

Abbott, a Republican, has previously voiced support for reducing penalties for some pot possession -- but not all the way to a mere civil offense. He said last fall that he would be open to lowering the penalty for possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor, specifically to avoid jail time for low-volume offenders.