The Texas House bill that would remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana has made it to the all-important House Calendars Committee, the last step before it is debated before the full Texas House of Representatives.
House Bill 81 by Rep. Joe Moody would replace jail time with a simple fine for anyone found to have one ounce of marijuana or less in his or her possession. The bill is designed to reduce arrests for these nonviolent offenses, thereby reducing costs associated with booking and jailing. The change in policy would also free up time for law enforcement to investigate more serious, violent crimes and criminals.
Rep. Moody spoke recently about the bill to the Fox 7 News station in Austin. (Video below)
“I think the people outside of this building are convinced that we need to change our law. The challenge that I have is changing minds inside the building,” Moody said. “It’s not an efficient use of our dollars. It's not an efficient use of our law enforcement time and resources and we're saddling what are mostly young offenders with collateral consequences that follow them for the rest of their lives,” said Moody.
Once the bill is placed on the House Calendar, it will be up for the full House to approve it and send it over to the Senate for consideration before the Legislature adjourns at the end of May.
To learn more about the measure, we encourage you to check out the Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy coalition page.
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