Articles tagged: Marijuana
Texas Expands Access to Medical Cannabis—But Advocates Say It’s Not Enough
Texas has one of the most restrictive medical marijuana laws in the country, leaving veterans like Viridiana Edwards struggling to manage chronic pain and PTSD.
This article was produced through the NPR NextGen/Texas Observer Print Scholars program, a new collaboration designed to offer mentorship and hands-on traini...Read More
Hemp Snafu Offers Texas Cities a Way to Decriminalize Marijuana
Austin leaders will consider a proposal to effectively end enforcement of misdemeanor pot possession.
Last year, police groups killed marijuana reform in Texas, which both political parties now support, with a Reefer Madness-style misinformation campaign. But a ...Read More
Texas (Kinda, Sorta) Accidentally Decriminalized Weed. Now What?
How harshly you’re punished for pot possession depends on where you’re caught, even more so now that a new law legalizing hemp has sowed confusion.
Texas lawmakers like to declare themselves leaders on criminal justice reform, but this session they mostly did nothing about it. During the 86th Texas Legislat...Read More
The High Cost of Hays County’s Decision to Keep Prosecuting Low-Level Marijuana Cases
Opinion: A new law legalizing hemp prompted prosecutors across the state to drop some low-level marijuana cases. But the district attorney in Hays County won’t be deterred.
Last month, Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1325 into law, legalizing the production and sale of hemp with less than .3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or ...Read More
Texas’ New Medical Marijuana Law Doesn’t Cover Veterans Suffering from PTSD
The Legislature recently passed medical cannabis reform, but the debate was marred by misinformation and left out people who say the drug eases their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
When Dave Bass returned from Iraq to Texas in 2005, doctors diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s a familiar problem for combat vets;...Read More
In Historic Vote, Texas House OKs Bill to Soften Penalties for Marijuana Possession
Despite approval in the House, a powerful Senate Democrat, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and Governor Greg Abbott could still stand in the way of the proposal becoming law.
UPDATE: On Tuesday, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said on Twitter that House Bill 63 is “dead in the Texas Senate,” further confirming what Democr...Read More
Dallas County DA John Creuzot Calls New Reforms ‘A Step Forward in Ending Mass Incarceration’
The policies announced Thursday range from refusing to prosecute certain drug cases to reforming probation and changing how the office handles crimes related to poverty and homelessness.
Last year, Dallas was ground zero in the national movement to elect prosecutors willing to help shrink the bloated carceral state. The race for Dallas County DA...Read More
Third Time’s The Charm? Marijuana Decriminalization Gets Another Chance in Texas
The first marijuana reform bill heard in committee this session would downgrade possession of an ounce to a civil offense and a fine up to $250.
Police chiefs from Plano, North Richland Hills and Grand Prairie told a Texas House committee on Monday that marijuana is a dangerous gateway drug that leads to...Read More
The Tattooed Star of the ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ Movement Braces for His First Death Penalty Trial
Mark Gonzalez wants a jury to help him decide whether Nueces County should keep sending people to death row.
In mid-January 2017, a couple of days after Mark Gonzalez was sworn in as Nueces County’s new district attorney, a deputy prosecutor approached him to ask how...Read More