Low-level marijuana possession no longer enforced in Austin

The Austin City Council voted Thursday to end the enforcement of low-level misdemeanor marijuana possession.

The move effectively ends criminal action against individuals with small amounts of marijuana while also prohibiting Austin police from pursuing new testing methods to distinguish narcotic marijuana from legal hemp.

“It's time to do the right thing,” said Council Member Greg Casar, who led the effort to end low-level marijuana enforcement. “It's the right thing for criminal justice reform. It's the right thing from a common sense perspective, and it's the right thing for racial equity.”

Police still may issue citations and detain individuals for marijuana possession, as provided under state law. However, police no longer would issue any fines or require court dates for people suspected of low-level marijuana possession, which is fewer than 4 ounces of pot or amounts considered to be for personal use.

The vote was unanimous with Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Jimmy Flannigan absent. Flannigan, who was not at the meeting because of an illness, was a co-sponsor of the action.

Austin police will continue to enforce felony marijuana trafficking offenses. It would require action from the Legislature to fully decriminalize the drug.

However, it was a state law that ultimately pushed the City Council to undo the enforcement against misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Last year, the Legislature passed House Bill 1325 legalizing hemp. It made cannabis legal as long as it has no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana.

Once enacted, many county prosecutors, including those in Travis and Williamson counties, announced they no longer would accept misdemeanor marijuana cases because of limited access to testing equipment needed to distinguish hemp from narcotic marijuana.

When it became apparent the Austin Police Department was considering purchasing testing equipment sensitive enough to determine legal hemp from marijuana, the effort to end enforcement began.

“The state created an unfunded mandate by legalizing hemp because it means that in order to enforce marijuana laws, local governments have to purchase expensive test equipment that isn't widely available,” Council Member Delia Garza said. “The state also imposed a revenue cap, which means that every spending decision that we have as a council looking forward we have to think of very carefully to determine whether it's worth limited resources.”

The lion’s share of nearly three dozen speakers at City Hall spoke in favor of ending marijuana enforcement, which was brought forward in a resolution from Casar.

“It is important to know that the work is not done,” Casar said. “There is work that still needs to be done at the Legislature.”

The only person to speak against the resolution was Austin police union President Ken Casaday, who said limiting police officers’ ability to enforce misdemeanor marijuana offenses would make the community less safe.

“You have to think about the unintended consequences,” Casaday said.

However, Casaday said he would stand behind the Austin City Council in pushing for the legalization of marijuana next year at the Legislature.

Many speakers told the council that ending enforcement of being in possession with low levels of marijuana was a racial issue. Data from Austin police showed that of 432 marijuana citations issued in 2019, 201 were issued to Hispanics and 163 to African Americans, making up 84% of all citations.

Huston-Tillotson student Jared Breckenridge called the council’s action “groundbreaking change,” but he warned that Gov. Greg Abbott will likely take note of the city’s action and might retaliate.

“Don't just stop and when the governor, when he comes to your door and he knocks because he going to, and that's OK,” Breckenridge said. “Don't do not turn back around. He's going to try and intimidate you."

Update: This article has been updated to clarify that the Austin City Council’s action ended the enforcement of low-level marijuana possession violations, not their prosecution.