Tuesday, April 6, 2021, will see the Criminal Jurisprudence committee holding a meeting to hear testimony on a number of bills relating to marijuana possession.
HB 99 Toth | et al.
Reduce penalties for possession of 2oz or less, disallows arrests, and prevents suspension of driver’s license.
HB 169 Thompson, Senfronia | et al.
Reduce penalties for possession of 2 ounces or less and 1 gram of concentrates.
HB 439 Canales
Reduce multiple offenses related to the possession or delivery of cannabis and cannabis concentrates.
HB 441 Zwiener | et al.
Reduce penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less to Class C and over 1 ounce to a class B while disallowing arrests and setting up an expunction process.
HB 498 Wu
Reduce penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less to Class C and over 1 ounce to a class B.
HB 1609 Crockett
Reduce multiple penalties associated with possession of cannabis.
HB 2593 Moody | et al.
Move THC from penalty group 2 to penalty group 2-B on the Texas Controlled Substances Act.
HB 1178 Crockett
Relating to removing criminal penalties for the possession of drug paraphernalia under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.
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Written Testimony
Anybody who feels that it may be difficult for them to attend or wishes to contribute from home over safety concerns, and still wants their voice to be heard can submit written testimony at the provided hyperlink in this text. This written testimony will go into the official written legislative record for the committee hearing (Note: Comments are limited to 3000 characters). The hearing will take place at 1 PM.
As well, Jax Finkel of Texas NORML reached out to TCC with information about the hearing as well.
The author of each bill has discussed them with Chairwoman Collier. The Chairwoman’s committee currently has a lot of legislation that is considered priority by the Governor such as winter storm impact, ERCOT, pandemic and broadband access. That means that those priorities must be addressed first. But the Chairwoman is a strong ally for marijuana law reform so it is important to her that we move these bills in time to make it through the process. In order to balance these two needs, she is requesting that the penalty reduction portion of the hearing not go on for hours, as it has in the past.
The authors and chair know that this type of legislation passed out of the house in 2019 with supermajority support. The makeup of the committee is also supportive of marijuana law reform. Some of the members are also authors of these bills. Another decrim bill has already been voted out of the committee and is on its way to calendars. This makes the authors feel that their bills will advance. In an effort to honor the committee’s time and the authors wishes, they are requesting that supporters submit written comments electronically. As noted before, it will go in the legislative record.
Medical Cannabis
On Wednesday, April 6, 2021 the Public Health Committee will be hearing Representative Stephanie Klick’s TCUP bill at 8AM.
HB 1535 Klick | et al.
Relating to the medical use of low-THC cannabis by patients with certain medical conditions and the establishment of compassionate-use institutional review boards to evaluate and approve proposed research programs to study the medical use of low-THC cannabis in the treatment of certain patients.
HB 1535 would add Cancer, Chronic Pain, and PTSD for Veterans while allowing the Department of State Health Services to add new qualifying conditions through their administrative rule-making process. HB 1535 would also raise the THC cap to 5% and create “Institutional Review Boards” which will facilitate research and track the impact of medical cannabis on patients participating in the program.
Klick’s bill is the only medical cannabis bill slated to be heard by the committee on that day.
Appropriate Attire if attending
Dress as professionally as possible is always the best way to go when speaking on bills or taking action at the capitol. And that applies to any hearing about any bill at the state capital. The best way to dress is under what is considered business casual or business professional. Business casual is wearing a pair of clean, wrinkle-free slacks (not jeans), a belt, and a button up dress shirt or polo shirt. These clothing items should be neutral colors more towards the dark shades of black, gray, navy, but can include white and off-white. From Indeed.com
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Business casual for women
For business casual, women can wear pencil skirts, blouses, button-down shirts, trousers, khakis, blazers and sweaters. They can accessorize with simple jewelry and belts. Shoes can include flats, loafers, mules, boots or heels.
Business casual for men
For business casual, men can wear trousers, slacks, khakis, button-downs, polos, or sport coats. Jackets and ties are optional but can be used to accessorize. Business casual shoes include loafers, lifestyle sneakers (with leather or canvas), oxfords or boots.
Business professional is a notch up and can look much more stunning and professional in appearance. This is how Indeed.com addresses the attire:
Business professional for women
When dressing for business professional, women should wear tidy dresses, skirts or slacks. Tops should include neat button-down shirts or blouses with a blazer. Business professional shoes include classic heels no higher than three inches, loafers or tidy flats. Women can accessorize with minimal jewelry and belts.
Business professional for men
When dressing for business professional, men should wear a dark-colored (gray, navy) suit and tie. The tie should be simple, avoiding bright colors or busy patterns. Men should wear a button-down shirt (preferably white or light-blue) and belt. Pair with a professional, closed-toed shoe like an oxford or loafer.