Decriminalize Denton board member Nick Stevens said it is an issue that crosses the political divide. Two weeks ago, the group was at Robson Ranch, said Stevens, educating residents about what his organization was doing with the Nov. 8 ballot initiative. He said they handed out 75 Prop. B support signs.
鈥淓ach of them had a unique story,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淭hey had back pain and had a granddaughter give them marijuana or had a grandson who went to jail for marijuana.鈥�
Common-sense cannabis reform has been pursued over the past decade in a majority of states. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt recently announced a special election for March 7, 2023, to decide on the use of recreational marijuana. His announcement comes shortly after President Joe Biden signaled his willingness to embrace cannabis reform by taking three steps:
- Pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple possession of marijuana.
- Urging all governors to do the same with regard to state offenses.
- Asking the secretary of health and human services and the attorney general to initiate the administrative process to review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.
鈥淪ending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,鈥� Biden said in his . 鈥淐riminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities.鈥�
In 2015, Texas took baby steps when state legislators passed the Compassionate Care Use Act, offering low-potency medicinal cannabis to patients with specific medical issues. They expanded it in 2019 and 2021 to include other medical issues such as those with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Gov. Greg Abbott, however, refuses to allow it to become an initiative for Texas voters to determine, and has been reluctant to forgive state level offenses, pointing out in an shared on Twitter that he could pardon only people who have been through the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles system with a recommendation for a pardon.
A local nonprofit organization, , in part, due to a low-level marijuana offense and obtained more than 3,000 signatures, exceeding the 1,700 needed, on a petition to get the cannabis reform ordinance on the November ballot. Denton City Manager Sara Hensley and other council members, however, have voiced reluctance to imposing on police duties.
鈥淪ara is free to believe what she believes,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淏ut I encourage her to read our city charter, which very clearly outlines directives for police.鈥�
Proposition B seeks to establish directives for police by way of an ordinance instead of a resolution, a symbolic gesture that is more of a recommendation than a rule. According to Decriminalize Denton鈥檚 , the proposition, if passed, would:
- Eliminate all citations and arrests for possession of misdemeanor amounts of marijuana (cannabis), except in some limited circumstances.
- Prevent Denton police from giving citations for drug paraphernalia in lieu of a possession of marijuana charge.
- Prohibit Denton police from using the odor of marijuana or hemp as probable cause for search or seizure.
- Save the city valuable law enforcement resources and municipal court resources, including labor and filing costs. This initiative would also ban costly THC testing.
On Oct. 13, newly inducted Denton Police Chief Doug Shoemaker that the ordinance would cause some problems for police. Shoemaker hails from law enforcement agencies in Missouri and Colorado, where marijuana is available medicinally and recreationally. He spent about five years as Grand Junction, Colorado, police chief before accepting the position in Denton earlier this month.
Missouri voters will be voting on marijuana decriminalization in November.
鈥淭he big challenge and very realistic challenge is some ramifications of that ordinance, particularly in terms of investigation 鈥� if you detect the scent of marijuana, being able to investigate further,鈥� Shoemaker said. 鈥淭here are some pretty strong restrictions on that that might be very problematic.
鈥淎nd quite frankly, it conflicts with state law, which is going to be very problematic, too.鈥�
State law does allow some leeway in the way law enforcement handles misdemeanor amounts of marijuana. They can issue citations for low-level marijuana offenses instead of taking people to jail. The previous Denton police chief, Frank Dixon, had directed police to issue citations for low-level offenses instead of arrests and told the City Council in late July that data shows they鈥檇 been able to cut in-custody jail stays by 85%.
The in-custody drop comes at a time when arrests for marijuana were at an all-time high nationwide. Pew Research Center found that 4 in 10 U.S. drug arrests in 2018 were mostly marijuana possession offenses, according to a Jan. 22, 2020, report. Additionally, the revealed that 鈥渕arijuana arrests now account for over half of all drug arrests in the United States鈥� with Black people 3.73 times more likely to be arrested than white people.
But Dixon鈥檚 directive wasn鈥檛 a city policy, meaning Shoemaker could direct his officers to take a different stance on low-level marijuana offenses.
Dixon, in the July meeting, discussed a similar concern that Shoemaker mentioned to the Record-Chronicle when council member Chris Watts expressed concern about excluding marijuana odor as a probable cause for police to search.
鈥淢y concern is that this notion of odor is not probable cause for any search,鈥� Watts said. 鈥淒oes that become a de facto shield for stuff that isn鈥檛 in plain sight?鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 right,鈥� Dixon replied.
Stevens mentioned the FBI and studies don鈥檛 show a link between cannabis use and violence. He鈥檚 somewhat correct. There are some studies that don鈥檛 show a link, but there are others that do. Yet, there鈥檚 no consensus among the scientific community, according to a .
In fact, a by the University of Texas at Dallas found that medical marijuana legalization doesn鈥檛 lead to more crime but instead 鈥渇ound some evidence of decreasing rates of some types of violent crime,鈥� the study鈥檚 lead author, Robert Morris, said in a press release.
But as Dorsai Rafiei and Nathan Kolla from the Violence Prevention Neurobiological Research Unit pointed out in a in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 鈥淭here are several limitations in the cannabis and violence literature.
鈥淔irst, there is considerable variability in study design, resulting in differing methodologies. The definitions and measures of cannabis use, violence, and aggression also differ greatly across studies.鈥�
Denton鈥檚 Proposition B marijuana initiative comes at a time when the ACLU is demanding an end to the 鈥渨ar on marijuana鈥� and two-thirds of U.S. adults believe marijuana should be legal for medicinal and recreational use, .
A majority of Texans agree, according to a recent .
Shoemaker did offer some assurances to the Record-Chronicle in his Oct. 13 interview. He mentioned that police would figure out what specifically they can and cannot do while also being cognizant of what is happening at the state level if the ordinance does pass in November.
鈥淚f this were to be decriminalized on a federal level at some point down the road 鈥� which there鈥檚 talks about 鈥� then that changes the aspects of things to some extent,鈥� Shoemaker said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not there yet.鈥�
