The Republican governor of Texas says that cities seeking to locally decriminalize marijuana—including one that’s set to vote on the reform next week—don’t have the authority to “override” state law.
Three months after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued five cities over voter-approved cannabis decriminalization policies, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) addressed the forthcoming vote in Lubbock, where the reform is on the local May 4 ballot.
The governor told KAMC that his concern was “bigger” than the question of decriminalization itself and was more a matter of localities superseding state laws.
“Local communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don’t have the authority to override state law,” Abbott said. “If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let’s legislate to work to make sure that the state, as a state, will pass some of the law.”
The governor has previously said that he doesn’t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession—although he mistakenly suggested that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.
In the new interview this week, Abbott said it would lead to “chaos” for voters in individual cities to be “picking and choosing” the laws they want abide by under state statute.
“It’s an unworkable system,” he said.
Hellbound and Down 