Texans Want Weed Decriminalized: Majority Supports Easing Cannabis Penalties, Recent Poll Shows

A new University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll comes ahead of the November election. It showed the majority of Texans or 68% of those asked, including a plurality of Republicans, think the penalty for possession or use of cannabis should be reduced to a citation and fine, reported Marijuana Moment. Among survey participants, 81% of Democrats support cannabis reform, followed by 59% of Republicans and 61% of independents.

The survey also asked voters whether they believe laws on various issues, such as cannabis, women’s right to abortion, gambling and guns should be stricter, more lenient or unchanged. The idea of easing restrictions on marijuana emerged as the most favored, with 50 percent of respondents supporting it.

The latest findings come on the heels of a separate Texas Lyceum poll that showed a significant increase in support for cannabis legalization in Texas.

Read Also: Texas Town Becomes Third To Successfully Place Cannabis Decriminalization On November Ballot

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“Taken together, 73% of Texans support either full legalization or decriminalization of marijuana in Texas according to 2024 polling,” the April 2024 poll revealed. “Among the 31% who said that they oppose marijuana legalization in 2024, 42% said that they would support decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana to a citation and a fine, with 47% remaining opposed.”

Support For Weed Decriminalization Is Growing In Texas

In the meantime, marijuana decriminalization has been gaining momentum in the Lone Star State over the past couple of years.

The town of Bastrop, some 30 miles outside of Austin, was among the most recent to make headlines when Desiree Venable, a Democrat running for a seat in the Texas House supported by Ground Game Texas, turned in 600 signatures in early July in support of decriminalizing marijuana.

That effort is similar to moves by cannabis activists in Dallas where they recently submitted nearly 50,000 signatures to place decriminalization on the ballot.

Moreover, five other Texas cities, including San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin, Denton and Austin, have adopted voter-supported decriminalization policies in recent years, which led to Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton filing lawsuits against them.

That said, residents of Lubbock, West Texas' largest city with 264,000 residents, said no to a measure to decriminalize local low-level marijuana offenses, a scenario Adam Hernandez, the Lubbock decriminalization campaign director, attributed to the election defeat to low voter turnout.

Read Next:

• Marijuana Decriminalization Gains Momentum In Texas As Cities Rebel