The Texas House of Representatives will vote on a bill to decriminalize marijuana on Wednesday—on the same day that a committee is scheduled to take up a broader cannabis sales legalization proposal.
The full House will act on the decriminalization legislation, which would also create a process for expunging marijuana conviction records, that’s being sponsored by Rep. Joe Moody (D).
Meanwhile, the House Licensing & Administrative Procedures Committee will hold a hearing on another bill from Moody that would allow adults 21 and older to possess and purchase cannabis from licensed retailers, and cultivate up to 12 plants for personal use.
The floor vote on the decriminalization measure comes about a month after the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee unanimously passed it. The bill would remove the risk of arrest or jail time for low-level possession of cannabis and allow people to eventually erase cannabis issues from their criminal records.
The House has already passed similar cannabis decriminalization proposals during the past two legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019. But so far the proposals have consistently stalled in the Senate amid opposition from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the chamber.
HB 218, the bill heading to the floor, combines two separate measures from last
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