Ken Paxton sues five Texas cities that decriminalized marijuana

[walkingman]

Source: Houston Chronicle

Paxton said in a Wednesday press release that the cities violated state laws.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing five cities — Austin, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Denton — to block their ordinances decriminalizing low-level marijuana possession.

In 2022, voters in the five cities approved policies that would end arrests and citations for possession of less than four ounces of marijuana. The five cities are home-rule cities — jurisdictions that under the Texas constitution are allowed to establish any law or ordinance unless it’s expressly forbidden by state or federal law. However, Paxton argues the Texas Local Government Code forbids them from adopting policies that would result in not fully enforcing drug-related laws. Paxton is seeking to repeal the city’s ordinances and make them enforce state law.

“I will not stand idly by as cities run by pro-crime extremists deliberately violate Texas law and promote the use of illicit drugs that harm our communities,” Paxton said.

Read more: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/paxton-suing-texas-cities-over-marijuana-policies-18640531.php

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Paxton faces two counts of securities fraud, a first-degree felony with a punishment of up to 99 years in prison. Paxton also faces one count of failing to register with state securities regulators, a third-degree felony with a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Wait till the ultra right Christian conservatives take over. They’ll outlaw liquor, gummies, require Bible study in public schools, and will provide hotlines to report family and friends. Oh wait, they already did that. ☮

[marble falls]

1. Odd. He goes against Federal Law often enough, but zero tolerance for cities flouting state law??

[pwb]

2. Fuck Paxton and Abbott

Up down and sideways. Freaks both.

[azureblue]

3. secede!

So the cities should secede from Texas and declare themselves to be part of California

[hlthe2b]

4. If we can't rid the scourge of Abbott/Paxton,

And the entire MAGAT-dominated TX government then (sorry, TX DUers) but let Mexico have them BACK.

[JohnnyRingo]

5. I always said that if I were driving cross country, I'd go around the Lone Star State.

It's always been the kind of state where you could be passing through and end up spending a lifetime there. Or at least 10 to 15 years.

[limbicnuminousity]

12. Drove through Texas several times along I-10.

It was a back-and-forth between Louisiana and southern California. The first leg of the drive always entailed hitting the gas at east Texas and not stopping until El Paso. It was safe to sleep at that point with the border to New Mexico right there.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

24. I fill up in Oklahoma and don't stop until I reach New Mexico. Fuck Texas.

They don't get a penny of my filthy socialist $$

[link:?v=1529517644|

[TxGuitar]

29. Oklahoma is redder than TX. nt

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

30. Yeah, I know, but I hate OK less than TX

I'm sure Guv Shitt is thinking up newer and better fascisms as we type to each other.

[TxGuitar]

32. OK voted for Trump

65 to 35. Trump won every county.

[GreenWave]

33. They shoot liberal Presidents in Texas.

But yet want a liberal amount of federal dollars.

[TxGuitar]

39. 60 years ago...

And Oswald was from Louisiana

[TxGuitar]

40. Washington DC and Lincoln ring any bells?

And as far as Oklahoma is concerned look up Black Wall Street

[TxGuitar]

41. Texas is not a taker state

[Zincwarrior]

6. Austin reasons

The state law changed permitting certain types of hemp oil, CBD, etc. In Austin at least, it was determined before any municipal law change, that every MJ case would involve requiring expensive testing that the county could ill afford - making prosecution of such to be cost prohibitive.

[Farmer-Rick]

7. He's trying to beef up Texas's exceptionally large prison population

"Texas has an incarceration rate of 840 per 100,000 people...meaning that it (Texas) locks up a higher percentage of its people than any democratic country on earth."

https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/TX.html

"Texas prison system makes $70 million a year off forced labor"....back in 2021. It's a lot more now.

https://www.freedomunited.org/news/texas-70-million-prison-forced-labor/

Jailing women for having abortions, jailing people who smoke cannabis. It's all about the profit.

Follow the money.........is this a capitalist economy or a slave economy?

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. The majority of Texas voters seem to be OK with this Republicans governance.

Been going on for a while and they keep electing these clowns who are actively engaged in a cultural war with the vast majority of Texas citizens.

[walkingman]

25. The frustrating thing is the extreme gerrymandering makes it awful hard to

eliminate the "supermajority" in the Texas Legislature. There are only a few seats that are competitive. I'm hoping that maybe we can defeat Ted Cruz in '24 and that will give us momentum to change the situation.

I get hope when I see what happened in Michigan - the GOP governed for 30 years and they have completely turned that around. However, us being a "Bible Belt" state makes it very hard to change our situation. The evangelicals are a large voting block here.....but Texas is a "minority majority" state now and if the hispanic community will SHOW UP we can do this.

[farmbo]

9. To quote an Austin cabdriver circa 2010:

"Austin is such a great town because the Rednecks smoke dope and the Hippies have guns."

This seems like a really stupid over-reach... even for Paxton.

[TxGuitar]

27. I don't know..

He is pretty stupid.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. You must obey your overlords.

[walkingman]

11. The thing I dislike the most about this is these same political actors

have loved to support "States Rights" but when the cities in Texas make laws to better deal with local issues and they personally don't agree with it - guess what. If he's so against the federal government intruding in states, one could logically assume he would be against states intruding in localities.

My first memory of this was when Austin passed the plastic bag ban and people started bringing their own bag to the grocery store. They went berserk. Then Austin tried to raise the minimum wage at the local level - they went apeshit crazy. Then the local tree ordinance - bananas. It goes on and on.

But as someone said earlier, until the citizens of Texas reject this hypocrisy at the state level - it will continue and we will continue to have to stomach this bullshit.

[malthaussen]

13. Because States are independent of the Feds, but cities are not free of the State. n/t

[walkingman]

16. Yes, you are correct but the reality goes a little further...

This hostility toward cities and local control didn’t exist at the Texas Capitol before Abbott became governor. As Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League, says,"“It’s only been since 2015 that we’ve seen this new tactic, where local control is no longer a good thing, it’s actually an evil thing," says Sandlin. "The new good thing is now liberty from local regulations."

While Abbott decries the “patchwork quilt” of regulations that local ordinances present to businesses, Sandlin says it makes sense sometimes.

Yes, the only way to change this is to rid ourselves of this GOP supermajority in Texas. Not sure when or if that can happen given the extensive gerrymandering it is hard to change the State Legislature and for Statewide races it seems that once someone declares allegiance to a political party it is hard to make that change. BUT it can happen

Texas was a blue state until the George "W" Bush election in 1994 which came about as a result of the massive religious push for a "Moral Majority" which was supposedly about "Family Values". Well, that bullshit is long gone and it is time to rid ourselves of these demons.

[LeftInTX]

18. Texas was not blue until 1994.

My parents came here in 1977. I came here in 1982. It was red. We had Bill Clements (R) running the state. Mark White (D) managed to sneak in a term and then it was back to Clements.

Public education was backwards. (No AC in many schools) Hubby's first job as a teacher in 1983 paid only $8,000 year!!

Roads were a mess, low water crossings everywhere.

In 1983, HB 72 was passed. Mark White got a teachers a significant pay raise, ($15,000 starting pay) but it hinged on teacher testing and teachers didn't like being tested, so they revolted. White's bill also mandated AC in schools! But Texas revolted against reforms and put backwards Clement back in again in 1984.

___________

Also Texas was home of Southern Democrats, which were not "blue". The Southern Democrats eventually all converted to the Republican party, but it didn't happen overnight. So, the state was run as a red state after the civil war. LBJ brought in projects that brought it back from the third world. Still, parts of San Antonio remained third world and it didn't have indoor plumbing until 1960. My in-laws grew up without indoor plumbing in San Antonio.

[walkingman]

19. I stand corrected. I was transferred to Houston in '74 at age 24 and it was

a much nicer place back then. I remember the first time we had heated political debates in 1980 concerning Reagan. It was the beginning of the end. I guess I thought of '94 because of the nasty election between Bush and Richards and the mud-slinging. And I think since those days it has gotten exponentially worse with all of Bush's offspring. Perry, Abbott, Cornyn, Cruz, Abbot (all connected to Bush 1).

Texas was a different state back in the 70's - I thought it was the best place I had lived - not anymore. I nkow that was a long time ago but I haven't changed and I'm wondering what happened. It sucks.

[malthaussen]

20. $8,000 in 1983?

Good grief, my High School teachers were making that much in 1972!

-- Mal

[TxGuitar]

28. Teacher salaries in Texas

Are dependent on where you teach. Huge differences within areas. My daughter has 5 years exp as a high school theatre teacher and makes about 70 K per year in suburb of Houston. Son in law makes about the same as a theatre teacher in a neighboring district. But 100 miles away in any direction and salaries are lower.

[LeftInTX]

42. Yes. He taught at a poor district

It was pretty disgusting.

[Beausoleil]

14. Paxton is what happens

when you let crooks hold office.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

15. Joe rogan might want to move

Just not back to California.

[walkingman]

17. Hell, we can't even get rid of Alex Jones or Glenn Beck.....

[ificandream]

21. But they aren't violating any law, you idiot....

[byronius]

22. Paxton and Abbot are only small Nazis.

I hope they both face serious justice somehow.

[walkingman]

23. All Hat and No Cattle....

[underpants]

26. Four ounces?

That’s a lot of weed.

BTW - Killeen is home to Fort Cavazos which is the only reason there is a Killeen as it exists today.

It was a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere until just after WWII.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killeen,_Texas

[walkingman]

37. Too many Ft. Hood soldiers getting arrested....

It's obvious that Texas considers decriminalizing weed a moral and law/order issue. It’s a moral issue because Republicans think that marijuana use is an addiction. They view addiction as a weakness of spirit or character that needs to be either criminalized and/or treated. The Puritan way to "fix" someone of a spiritual deficit is by incapacitation, penance and enlightenment to rectify their sin or weakness.

It’s a law and order issue because the republicans feel it’s a threat to the public safety of Texas. Without saying it they feel that it will tear apart and undermine the conservative Christian culture in Texas and turn Texas into a place that values progressive or liberal beliefs - a huge threat.

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

31. Those cities should ignore him like he ignores the Feds

After all, if we can have states rights take precedence over Federal, then wouldn't CITY RIGHTS reign supreme over States?

[Emile]

34. So republicans are against city rights.

[LudwigPastorius]

35. Oooooh, scary! AG Paxton is Mr. Law & Order.

Meanwhile, the whole time, this Picasso-faced motherfucker is under indictment for multiple felonies.

Eat shit, Kenny, and go fuck yourself. Do it today!

[Chi67]

36. Ugh!

Paxton is fighting a losing battle. When marijuana was legalized in Illinois, I discovered that it got rid of my IBS symptoms.

Before that, I was getting to the point with the disease that it was becoming debilitating. In 8 years it had gone from being intermittent bouts with bloating, constipation and acid reflux to becoming 24/7. It got really bad- to the point I was becoming extremely depressed. A few times, I woke up in the middle of the night choking on stomach acid. If any of you have been through that, you know that it feels like, you can't breathe- it's terrifying. And going back to sleep is almost impossible.

Then along came medical weed. It got rid of my symptoms in a week- a fucking week. All those years of trying dietary changes and trying to find the right pills (which did not work), and all it took was a tiny bit of edible pot per day at bedtime (5 mg does the trick).

I am going into year 4 of being symptom-free. I have never had to increase dosage or anything. It just works.

To be clear, IBS has many different causes, most of the time it's food allergies. For me, it was an endocannabinoid deficiency in my gut. Medical marijuana is not the only answer, and no one should use any medical condition as an excuse to abuse any substance.

https://www.healthline.com/health/endocannabinoid-system#deficiency

Our bodies normally produce these chemicals naturally. But as we all know, when we get older, I'm 56, things don't always work like they used to.

As more and more studies happen, people like Paxton will look like morons. It's a plant- it was put on Earth for a reason.

[VGuerra276]

38. Well, Paxton lost this case.

This is a win for environmentalists but it's not over until its over.

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:cbcbd54c-c5cb-4654-be24-e696dc178077