Cannabis advocates in Dallas won a major victory Friday after a district court threw out an injunction filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that would have blocked that city’s decriminalization of misdemeanor marijuana possession.
The ruling by Dallas District Court Judge Dale Tillery is Paxton’s third loss when it comes to trying to reinstate marijuana arrests in cities that have voted to decriminalize the devil’s lettuce. Dallas last year became Texas’ biggest city to pass a measure decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot.
“Dallas voters gave us a mandate last year — over two-thirds voted in favor of misdemeanor marijuana decriminalization,” Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua said in a statement. “It is not for the Texas Attorney General to try to overrule that vote.”
Eight cities in Texas other than Dallas — Bastrop, Lockhart, Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, Denton, and Harker Heights — have voted to decriminalize marijuana in recent years.
Even so, 72% of San Antonio voters in 2023 rejected a measure that would have also decriminalized both weed and abortion. However, that initiative was tied to criminal justice reforms that would have expanded the city’s cite-and-release program — an idea some voters feared would raise crime rates.
“Black and brown residents had been disproportionately criminalized in our city for the possession of a substance that’s legal in over half the country,” Bazaldua said of Dallas’ move to decriminalize pot. “Voters quite reasonably chose to end that injustice, and to allow law enforcement to focus on more serious issues.”
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This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2025.
