Texas Weed Laws: Freedom And The Future

Marijuana laws in Texas are complicated. While the state has expanded its medical marijuana program, known as the Compassionate Use Program, and public support for legalization has increased, Texas remains one of the few states that still jails people for possessing small amounts of cannabis. Texas is also one of only 12 states without a comprehensive medical cannabis law. The state's laws regarding cannabis are heavily influenced by key political figures such as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has consistently opposed marijuana reform. Despite the efforts of advocates and local initiatives, Texas has not passed any significant cannabis policy reforms as of 2023. The state's legislature failed to pass two important bills, HB1805 and HB 218, which aimed to expand the Compassionate Use Program and reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis, respectively. While the future of cannabis legalization in Texas remains uncertain, it is clear that the state is lagging behind in terms of reform when compared to other states in the country.

Marijuana is illegal in Texas

Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law and Texas law. This means it is considered to have a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use, and a lack of safety for use under supervision. In Texas, the possession and delivery of marijuana are criminal offences, with penalties varying depending on the amount.

While Texas has expanded its medical marijuana program, the Compassionate Use Program, allowing low-THC cannabis for a narrow set of medical conditions, it is still one of only 12 states without a comprehensive medical cannabis law.

Public support for marijuana legalization is growing in Texas, and several cities have passed local decriminalization ordinances. However, the state Attorney General, Ken Paxton, has sued these localities, claiming that state law takes precedence over Home Rule Charters. The main obstacle to cannabis policy reform in Texas is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is a staunch prohibitionist and controls the Senate agenda.

The complex legal landscape in Texas, with varying laws across cities and counties, has led to confusion and challenges in marijuana prosecution, particularly in distinguishing between hemp and marijuana.

Hemp is legal in Texas

In June 2019, Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott signed House Bill 1325 into law, legalizing the production, manufacture, inspection, and retail sale of hemp crops and products. This bill distinguished hemp-derived products such as CBD, Delta-8, and Delta-9 THC from hemp as long as they contain less than 0.3% THC. However, the smokability of hemp in Texas is still in a legal grey area. While the Texas Department of State Health Services created rules for the state's Consumable Hemp Program, outlawing the manufacturing, processing, distribution, and retail sale of smokable hemp products, several hemp companies filed a lawsuit, and the ban has been in limbo since.

The legalization of hemp has had a significant impact on marijuana prosecutions in Texas, which have dropped by more than half since 2019. The distinction between hemp and marijuana is difficult to make, and state labs often lack the resources to detect the exact THC content of a substance. As a result, many law enforcement agencies in Texas have implemented cite-and-release policies for low-level marijuana charges.

While hemp is legal in Texas, it is important to note that there are restrictions on who is permitted to grow it. Individuals with felony convictions involving drug offenses in the last ten years are prohibited from having managerial control of entities that cultivate, handle, or store hemp.

Marijuana prosecutions are dropping

Since the legalization of hemp, the number of low-level pot cases filed by prosecutors has plummeted. Some law enforcement agencies that still pursue charges are paying for private testing to ensure that substances they suspect are illegal marijuana are not hemp. However, private testing can be expensive, and not all counties have the resources to implement it. As a result, many prosecutors have dropped or stopped accepting low-level marijuana cases.

In 2018, Texas prosecutors filed about 5,900 new misdemeanor marijuana possession cases per month. In the first five months of 2019, this average dropped to 5,600 new cases per month. Since the hemp law was enacted in June 2019, the number of cases has been slashed by more than half. In November 2019, less than 2,000 new cases were filed.

The drop in marijuana prosecutions has led to a sharp statewide decline in low-level pot prosecutions. This change is welcomed by those who support marijuana legalization, as it means fewer Texans are receiving criminal records for marijuana possession. However, the patchwork system of temporary de facto pot decriminalization in some cities or counties was not intentional, and state leaders have reaffirmed that the hemp law did not decriminalize marijuana.

While marijuana prosecutions are dropping in Texas, it is important to note that marijuana remains illegal in the state. Texas is one of 19 states that still jail people for possession of small amounts of cannabis and one of 12 without a comprehensive medical cannabis law. While there is significant public support for legalizing recreational marijuana in Texas, the main impediment to cannabis policy reform is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a staunch prohibitionist.

Support for marijuana legalisation is growing

As of January 2025, marijuana is illegal in Texas. However, support for marijuana legalisation is growing in the state.

Texas has a history of harsh marijuana laws, but public opinion is evolving. While marijuana remains illegal, Texas has expanded access to medical marijuana under the Compassionate Use Program. This program allows patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to access cannabis products with no more than 1% THC by weight.

In recent years, there has been increasing support for decriminalisation initiatives at the local level. Five cities—San Marcos, Killen, Harker Heights, Elgin, and Denton—passed local decriminalisation ordinances in 2022. However, only three of these cities—Killeen, Elgin, and San Marcos—have implemented the changes, joining Houston and Austin in choosing not to arrest cannabis consumers for possessing small amounts of cannabis.

At the state level, attempts to change Texas' cannabis policy were not successful in 2023. Two bills, HB1805 and HB 218, which would have expanded the Compassionate Use Program and reduced penalties for possession of small amounts of cannabis, respectively, passed in the House of Representatives but did not advance to a hearing in the Senate. The main impediment to cannabis policy reform in Texas is Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a staunch prohibitionist who controls the Senate's agenda and has prevented marijuana reform on multiple occasions.

Despite the lack of progress at the state level, voters are eager for more comprehensive reform. A recent poll shows that 83% of Texans support medical cannabis, and 60% support full legalisation. With growing public support and evolving sentiments, the future of marijuana legalisation in Texas remains a topic of ongoing debate and discussion.

Marijuana laws are racially motivated

Marijuana laws in Texas are indeed racially motivated. While Texas has expanded medical marijuana under the Compassionate Use Program and public support for legalization has increased, Texas is not in a place where efforts for major decriminalization or legalization will pass.

In the early 20th century, Mexican immigrants to the United States introduced the practice of smoking cannabis leaf in cigarettes and pipes. Soon afterward, many states passed laws prohibiting the plant. The racial and political climate around cannabis continued to sour with the rise of Harry J. Anslinger, the first commissioner of the now-defunct Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He led a campaign against cannabis, perpetuating racial bias about users and capitalizing on false claims that it could cause people to commit crimes. Anslinger pointedly employed the Spanish term "marijuana" in place of "cannabis" to associate the drug with Mexican immigrants. He also tied cannabis use to jazz music, alleging that it was an evil music form created by people under the plant's influence.

Anslinger's campaign resulted in the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, which regulated the importation, cultivation, possession, and distribution of cannabis and levied fines that were as high as the average American's annual income. Hearst newspapers published a steady stream of anti-cannabis stories, claiming, for example, that "marijuana was known in India as the 'murder drug.' It was common for a man to 'catch up a knife and run through the streets, hacking and killing everyone he [encountered].'" In one of the most bizarre claims, the article claimed one could grow enough cannabis in a window box to "drive the whole population of the United States stark, raving mad."

The criminalization of marijuana has led to the disproportionate targeting of communities of color. Despite Black and white people using drugs at similar rates, a 2010 study found that Black people are arrested at a rate of 3.73:1 compared to white people. Moreover, this disparity is likely even more pronounced due to the lack of federal data on Latinx people, since many Latinx people were likely counted as white for the purposes of federal data. Indeed, in New York, one of two states for which Latinx arrest data is available, a similar nearly 4:1 disparity between Latinx and white arrests persists.

The War on Drugs, according to John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon, began as a war against antiwar advocates and Black people. By Ehrlichman's own admission, the Nixon administration could not criminalize being Black or being against the Vietnam War, so instead, it sought to disrupt these communities by getting the public to associate heroin with Black people and marijuana with "hippies" — and then heavily criminalizing them.

Today, the legal pot industry (run primarily by white men) is projected to bring in $45 billion in 2024. Meanwhile, many Black Americans continue to sit in jails under mandatory life sentences. Efforts to legalize recreational cannabis are but a first step in addressing these pervasive injustices.

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