Voters Reject Local Cannabis Reforms In Lubbock, Texas

Voters in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday rejected a local cannabis decriminalization ballot measure, the Texas Tribune reports.

The proposal — which sought to prevent Lubbock law enforcement from arresting or prosecuting adults caught with four ounces or less of cannabis — was rejected by nearly 65% of voters during the city’s municipal election.

A spokesperson for Lubbock Compact, the community advocacy group and public policy think tank behind the decriminalization campaign, said low voter turnout caused the campaign to come up short.

“We worked hard on it, we had a lot of volunteers. We just weren’t able to get the voter turnout high enough.” — Adam Hernandez, via the Texas Tribune

The Lubbock City Council had previously rejected the reforms, which kicked the issue to voters.

If the ordinance had passed, Lubbock would have joined five other Texas cities — Austin, Killeen, Denton, Elgin, and San Marcos — in passing local, low-level cannabis decriminalization reforms. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, however, has argued that local cannabis decriminalization policies violate state laws and the state constitution. The attorney general formally filed a lawsuit against the cities in January.

The city of Harker Heights also approved similar decriminalization reforms but the City Council there refused to enact the policy, prompting a lawsuit.