DALLAS — While some Dallas City Council members cast doubt on whether or not a charter amendment voters approved that prohibits police from arresting people suspected of having up to 4 ounces of marijuana, city officials said Tuesday they’re prepared to begin following the amendment.
Proposition R, which was spearheaded by a self-described progressive group called Ground Game Texas, was approved with about 67% of the vote. It also makes enforcement of Class A and B misdemeanor marijuana possession the Dallas Police Department’s lowest priority and prohibits the use of city resources for THC testing except for purposes of ensuring public safety or in the investigation of a violent felony.
Council Member Cara Mendelsohn, during Tuesday’s meeting canvassing the results of the Nov. 5 election, moved to add a clause stating that the city couldn’t enforce Proposition R unless Texas legalized marijuana.
“The core of this is that state law pre-empts our ability to enforce this ordinance and we need to respect state law and follow state law and if not, we’ll be seeing a lawsuit associated with it,” said Mendelsohn
The majority of the city council, though, voted to reject adding the clause.
“We had hundreds of people show up here to advocate for Proposition R for marijuana reform and there’s not a single person in the audience because of the way this was noticed,” Council Member Chad West said. “If there had been notice to the public that we would be inserting language here essentially stating that we’re not going to enforce the will of the voters, we’d have a packed room right now.”
Dallas Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said the city plans to begin enforcement of Proposition R.
“The Dallas Freedom Act was adopted by a majority of the voters, and the City Council has directed that the city comply with the amendment’s provisions. The Dallas Police Department is prepared to implement these changes while maintaining its commitment to public safety,” Tolbert said.
Earlier this year, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued five cities, including Denton in North Texas, over ordinances to deprioritize misdemeanor marijuana enforcement.
Texas is among the states that haven't legalized marijuana for broad use, but the state has a medical marijuana program called by the Texas Compassionate Use Act passed in 2015. Through the program, DPS operates an online registry of physicians who can prescribe low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to patients with specific medical conditions.
The 2018 Farm Bill defined “hemp” as “cannabis and derivatives of cannabis” with no more than 0.3% THC on a dry-weight basis and separated hemp from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act, according to the FDA.
Then, in 2019, Texas legalized the production, manufacture, sale and inspection of industrial hemp crops and products, including those for “consumable hemp products which contain cannabidiol (CBD), as well as other edible parts of the hemp plant,” according to the Texas Department of Agriculture.