Texas

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week filed a lawsuit against the city of Dallas over the city’s new, voter-backed cannabis decriminalization policy.

Voters in the Texas cities of Dallas, Bastrop, and Lockhart voted this week to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession.

The owner of a Texas smoke shop was awarded a settlement of $80,000 from the Garza County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Post following an “illegal” raid in February that seized more than $20,000 worth of legal hemp products.

A report by the Texas Department of Public Safety found the state’s medical cannabis program does not provide “statewide access” for qualifying patients and suggested that officials should take steps to expand the program’s accessibility.

Police in Allen, Texas said this week they raided nine hemp product retailers after an investigation found they were selling products containing an illegal amount of THC. An attorney representing the stores called the raid an intimidation tactic and said his clients had been operating lawfully.

Voters in Lockhart, Texas will decide this November whether police will de-prioritize cannabis enforcement; Lockhart voters will be joining Bastrop and Dallas in considering the reforms.

Voters in Bastrop, Texas are set to consider a cannabis decriminalization proposal this November after city officials certified the petition submitted earlier this year.

Officials in Dallas, Texas have given final approval to a cannabis decriminalization petition that will let voters decide this November whether to make low-level cannabis possession the city’s “lowest enforcement priority.”

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe is investing in a 500,000-square-foot hemp processing facility in Wichita Falls, Texas; the facility will process hemp straw for use in textiles, straw, and pellets.

Advocates in the Texas cities of Bastrop, Dallas, and Lockhart have submitted enough signatures to put a cannabis decriminalization question before voters in each of the cities this November.

A Texas judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to nullify voter-approved local cannabis decriminalization ordinances in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos.

Dallas could be the next city in Texas to adopt local cannabis decriminalization reforms if the City Council approves the Dallas Freedom Act for local ballots later this month.

While Texas lawmakers consider banning certain hemp-derived cannabinoids, Hometown Hero — an Austin-based company retailing hemp THC and CBD products — has announced the launch of the Texas Hemp Business Council (THBC), a new nonprofit hemp industry trade group.

Voters in Lubbock, Texas rejected a local cannabis decriminalization ballot measure over the weekend with nearly 65% of voters opposing the reforms.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against five Texas cities and their officials for adopting cannabis decriminalization policies, arguing these policies violate state laws and the state constitution.

Activists in Texas are suing the city of Harker Heights for failing to reform its local cannabis laws after voters approved decriminalization changes in 2022.

City Council members in Lubbock, Texas have rejected a cannabis decriminalization proposal, leaving the issue for voters to decide during next year’s election.

Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) in Texas has received a nearly $300,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to study the use of hemp as animal feed.

Cannabis advocates in Lubbock, Texas on Tuesday submitted their petition to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis in the city after collecting 10,540 signatures, which is more than twice what it takes to force local officials to vote on the proposal.

Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller (R) said that he believes if medical cannabis reforms were to get a vote in the state legislature, they would be supported by “70% to 80%” of lawmakers because “we have such good science on it.”

The Texas House approved a cannabis decriminalization proposal last week, reducing penalties for possession up to an ounce. The bill moves next to the Senate, which rejected similar legislation in 2019 and 2021.

The Texas House voted 121-23 in favor of a measure to increase allowable THC levels in the state’s medical cannabis program and add chronic pain to the program’s qualifying conditions list.

Another federal judge ruled last week that the federal ban on cannabis consumers possessing firearms is unconstitutional.

Since Killeen, Texas voters opted to decriminalize low-level cannabis possession last November, city police have released 77% of the individuals they encountered who were in possession of cannabis.