A majority of Texas voters assist legalizing marijuana for medical and leisure use, in keeping with a brand new ballot.
The survey from The Dallas Morning Information and College of Texas at Tyler discovered that 72 % of registered voters in Texas, together with a majority of Republicans (67 %), mentioned they again medical hashish legalization.
In the meantime, 55 % of respondents mentioned they assist legalizing marijuana for grownup use. Whereas the reform proposal has turn into extra bipartisan nationwide, nevertheless, Texas Republicans are divided on the difficulty, with 48 % opposed and 43 in favor of broad legalization.
That’s in comparison with 65 % of Democrats and 63 % of independents who again the coverage change.
The poll concerned interviews with 1,384 registered voters from August 1-7, and has a margin of error of +/- 2.6 share factors.
It must also be identified {that a} prior ballot from the College of Houston and Texas Southern College that was launched late final yr discovered considerably extra assist (67 %) for legalization amongst Texas residents, with a slim majority of Republicans on board as properly.
Whereas Texas has seen extra modest hashish reforms enacted in recent times, together with the growth of the state’s medical marijuana program, the conservative legislature has but to meaningfully advance adult-use legalization laws.
Advocates additionally stay upset that lawmakers have up to now been unable to cross different, extra expansive hashish payments—comparable to a decriminalization proposal that cleared the Home however noticed no motion within the Senate.
The Home accredited a hashish decriminalization invoice in 2019, nevertheless it didn’t advance within the Senate that session.
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Texas Republicans could be on the fence on legalization general, however the state’s GOP celebration formalized its opposition to ending prohibition once more with the adoption of a coverage plank as a part of its 2022 platform.
Two modest reforms that have been supported within the platform, nevertheless, have been the federal rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to II and decreasing rules on hemp.
Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate with a longstanding report of supporting drug coverage reform within the Lone Star state and in Congress, was fast to criticize the GOP group over its embrace of restrictive social insurance policies, together with hashish criminalization.
Even Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appeared to embrace easy decriminalization in January, saying “jail and jail is a spot for harmful criminals who could hurt others, and small possession of marijuana shouldn’t be the kind of violation that we need to stockpile jails with.”
However he misstated current coverage, suggesting that the legislature already made easy marijuana possession a category C misdemeanor with out the specter of jail time. In truth, the legislation nonetheless thought of possession of as much as two ounces a category B misdemeanor that carries a punishment of as much as 180 days in jail and a most $2,000 advantageous.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller argued in favor of additional increasing medical hashish entry in an op-ed final month, saying that “hashish prohibition got here from a spot of worry, not from medical science or the evaluation of social hurt.”
On the native degree, marijuana reform has moved quickly as Texas activists have labored to enact reform in jurisdictions throughout the state. In Could, for instance, Austin voters accredited marijuana decriminalization overwhelmingly.
Voters in 5 extra Texas cities will see hashish decriminalization measures on their November ballots.