Dallas will get to vote on decriminalizing marijuana in November

Dallas voters will get the opportunity to vote on decriminalizing the possession of marijuana in November, thanks to a political activist group that rallied support.

On July 19, city of Dallas officials verified that advocates from a nonprofit called Ground Game Texas had collected the requisite 50,000 signatures to place the initiative on the November 5 ballot.

If approved, Dallas would join Texas cities such as Denton and Austin who've approved similar measures. The cities of Bastrop and Lockhart will also have the issue on their ballot.

Ground Game Texas is a progressive nonprofit who deployed workers around the city to gather the signatures and turned them in for review in June.

“We go in and look at each signatory to make sure they are registered in the city to vote,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director of Ground Game Texas. She said only voters who live in the city of Dallas, not Dallas County, are able to sign a petition, “which gets confusing and is the reason that we got more signatures than we needed.”

The measure would decriminalize possession, meaning no more arrests or citations, of less than four ounces of pot.

Ground Game and its roughly 50 workers have fostered local ballot measures around the state including a successful move to create a $15 minimum wage in Edinburg and a failed attempt to force El Paso residents to convert to all renewable energy by 2045.

Ground Game’s strength has been marijuana, and it has been part of decriminalization efforts in Austin, Elgin, Killeen, Denton, and San Marcos in the past two years. State Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued those cities for enacting revised pot ordinances, contending that state law prevails.

Pot election losses for Ground Game include Lubbock and San Antonio, both in May.

In Dallas, council members Chad West, Adam Bazaldua, Zarin Gracey and Jaime Resendez have said that if the signatures are not enough, they would propose the change as part of the city’s decennial city charter update.

Today, possession of between two and four ounces of weed is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a $2,000 fine, and a criminal record.

If approved, the Dallas Police Department would stop making arrests for marijuana possession. Selling marijuana would not be affected by the rule. So far, cities where voters have passed decriminalization proposals have not changed the rules regarding minors in possession of pot, Voellinger said.

The council will next meet on August 14 to formally place the initiative on the ballot as well as other issues; the ballot must be finalized by August 19.

Voellinger said the numerous failed efforts at the state level to either decriminalize or legalize marijuana have driven Ground Game to the local strategy. “We can’t influence this issue at a state level, but we are able to do this locally,” she said. “Also, doing this across the state sends a message to local legislators to let them know what constituents are thinking.”

It's also part of a larger national progressive strategy to turn out voters using issues that speak to them. If a slate of candidates isn’t inspiring, an issue like climate change or marijuana might entice turnout.

The next target for Ground Game is Tarrant County.

“The whole Dallas area is interesting, but especially Fort Worth,” Voellinger said. “Tarrant County, that growth out there, you will see continued work there as well as north Texas. We are also looking to move into Harris County.”