Legal Weed, Filed on Day One: What the Texas Marijuana Bills Would Actually Allow — 2 Ounces, 12 Plants, Four Licenses
Reps. John Bucy and Joe Moody filed nearly identical 37-page bills (HB 362 and HB 369) and Sen. Carol Alvarado filed SB 237 to legalize recreational marijuana in Texas for adults 21 and over. The bills face a Republican Senate — but for the first time, they start in a House their party controls.
AUSTIN — Texas marijuana law did not change this week. What changed is who is asking, and from where. On the first day of prefiling for the 90th Legislature, Democratic Reps. John Bucy of Austin and Joe Moody of El Paso filed their own bills to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana — nearly identical 37-page measures, HB 362 and HB 369 — and Sen. Carol Alvarado of Houston filed a similar Senate version, SB 237, according to USA TODAY's Texas Connect reporting.
As filed, the House bills would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older. Texans could possess, use and transport up to 2 ounces of cannabis — no more than 15 grams of it as concentrate — give up to the same amount to another adult without payment, and grow up to 12 plants at a private residence in an enclosed, secured area. Selling or giving cannabis to anyone under 21 stays an offense: a Class B misdemeanor when the recipient is 18 to 20, a Class A misdemeanor under 18. Driving under the influence stays illegal, as do possession and use at schools, daycares and jails. Cities and counties could regulate sales and store counts but could not prohibit the industry outright — and marijuana would remain illegal under federal law regardless.
The regulation is a licensing regime, not a free-for-all: the bills create four new license types through the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation — cannabis grower, cannabis establishment, cannabis secure transporter and cannabis testing facility — the same skeleton the state uses for other regulated trades.
The obstacle is arithmetic, and it is the same one every prefiling story this week shares. Democrats control the state House for the first time in a generation; Republicans hold the Senate majority any legalization bill must also clear, before a governor's signature. The session convenes January 12. Filing on day one does not make a bill likely — it makes the ask official, in writing, with the numbers attached: 21, 2 ounces, 12 plants.
