LOCKHART, Texas — This November, people in Lockhart may see an item on their ballot calling to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession.
Local nonprofit advocacy groups Mano Amiga and Ground Game Texas announced they've collected enough signatures to put the issue up for a vote.
“We have over 900 signatures in this stack right here,” Elle Carter, Mano Amiga’s Right to Justice coordinator, said.
Taylor Burge, who is running for Caldwell County commissioner, said each vote sends a message to elected officials that it is time to end the statewide prohibition of cannabis.
“In 1931, Texas banned cannabis, classifying it as a narcotic and making its possession a felony,” she said. “It has become clear that the punitive approach towards cannabis has failed. We have gradually moved towards a more sensible approach, and in 2015, Texas approved limited medical use of cannabis. The key lesson that we are learning is that it is more important to care for people incarcerated.”
The advocates say the way the law is now, it's only hurting people.
Margaret Carter, a lifelong Lockhart resident, said it's hurting other people who look like her.
“There are a lot of Black and brown citizens that are locked up here in Caldwell County and have been for a long time,” she said.
Carter also runs Where We Thrive, a nonprofit that helps the impoverished community. She said she feels that people of color are targeted, especially younger people.
“Treated like a criminal, searched and seized, you know? So, yeah, it's pretty cruel. It damages our young kids, you know, when they are treated with a minor offense and charged as a felony,” Carter said.
Mano Amiga and Ground Game Texas say it will also save tax dollars, and police time can be used on something different.
“Imagine spending anywhere from $4,000 to $10,000 to arrest someone for possessing personal amounts of marijuana. In Texas, we make tens of thousands of arrests per year, despite hemp being legal in Texas and cannabis being legal in most states across the country,” Catina Voellinger, the executive director of Ground Game Texas, said.
Voellinger said many use hemp or cannabis to treat medical ailments all over the country, but people in Texas are serving time for simple possession for the same reasons.
“We envision a community where public funds are not squandered on unnecessary arrests, but are instead invested in genuine services that elevate and secure all of us,” she said.
Mano Amiga’s Elle Cross said the criminalization of marijuana has only driven it more underground, giving minors more access to it than before and enriching criminal enterprise.
“Right now, the Lockhart budget shows policing increased over 30% in the last three years, and policing is by far the largest budget item. Meanwhile, there's not a single line item for public health and mental health services and addiction services," Cross said." We have to start dreaming bigger about what wellness for our community means."
Carter said a ballot item is more important than ever.
“I think it will change lives. It will bring families back together. It will give those people who are incarcerated now an opportunity to get out, be reformed, be able to go and, you know, find work and be a productive citizen and bring their families back together,” she said.
Austin, Elgin and San Marcos have had similar movements. Attorney General Ken Paxton is currently suing those cities for not enforcing the law.
KVUE reached out to the Attorney General's Office and the Caldwell County District Attorney’s Office for comment on Lockhart's proposition. Neither responded.
The Lockhart city clerk will now certify the signatures submitted. Once that's done, the city council will have to approve putting this on the November ballot.