Texas has a very limited medical marijuana program, but recreational use is not legal there. And unlike many other states, Texas does not allow for citizen led initiatives, brought by signature petition campaigns, to put measures on the statewide ballot. So the only way recreational cannabis can be legalized there, would be by state legislatures sponsoring, and then voting on, a measure. So far they haven't done so. But there is a group of activists who haven’t given up, and instead, they’re tackling the issue city by city. Ground Game Texas are the activist group that have spearheaded several successful campaigns to decriminalize cannabis across the state. They started in the capital of Austin, and followed with five more cities. And now, it looks like San Antonio could be next! Ground Game Texas, along with SA Stands and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, have turned in enough signatures to put a cannabis decriminalization measure on local San Antonio, Texas ballots. Activists needed to gather at least 20,000 valid signatures to qualify for this, and they surpassed that, by collecting roughly 37,000 signatures. The excess number serves as a buffer, in case of any signatures being disqualified. The text of the current San Antonio cannabis decriminalization initiative states that “San Antonio police officers shall not issue citations or make arrests for Class A or Class B misdemeanor possession of marijuana offenses,” with limited exceptions. It also says that police can’t “consider the odor of marijuana or hemp to constitute probable cause for any search or seizure.” Julie Oliver, executive director of Ground Game Texas, said in a press release, that their latest measure, “… will make San Antonio a model for public safety reform across Texas and the nation, and we look forward to putting it in front of voters on the May ballot.” Ananda Tomas, executive director of ACT 4 SA, said the fact that the signature collection effort was completed in under three months shows just how much San Antonio residents do want cannabis decriminalization. A poll released last year found that a majority of Texas voters support legalizing cannabis, with about four in five residents saying they feel cannabis should be legal for either medical or recreational use. Comments are closed.
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