In November, voters in several Texas cities passed marijuana decriminalization ordinances – a sign of the times, many said, since laws over pot have relaxed in many states nationwide.
That hasn’t been the case when it comes to Texas state laws, which have moved toward allowing medical use in specific circumstances. But marijuana remains very much illegal for the most part in Texas.
That tension between state law and these local ordinances has led some local lawmakers to undermine voter-approved decriminalization measures. Katharine Neill Harris, the Glassell fellow in drug policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute, joined the Texas Standard to share more about what’s happening in Harker Heights, Killeen and elsewhere in the state.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Texas Standard: Let’s talk about what’s going on in places like San Marcos, Denton, Elgin, Killeen and Harker Heights – all voted to reduce criminal penalties for low-level marijuana possession, but what we’re hearing is that in a lot of these places, officials haven’t implemented those changes to local law. What’s going on?
Katharine Neill Harris: Yes, so I think right now some of the city councils have kind of put a pause on things and said that they want to look at the legal issues around implementation. There’s a lot of concern from the cities about, you know, possible violations of state law, so there is that…
