After spending $200,000 on legal fees fighting a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Denton city council voted 4-3 to repeal a city mandate that decriminalized up to four ounces of weed possession. (Photo by Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images)
Denton voters overwhelmingly supported weed decriminalization efforts in 2022, with 72% of them voting to pass Proposition B.
A North Texas city has repealed an ordinance aimed at decriminalizing weed possession following legal pressure from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The Denton city council voted 4-3 on May 20 to repeal Proposition B, which prevents arrests and citations for up to four ounces of weed possession. The council cited mounting legal fees associated with defending the proposition as reason to repeal the ordinance.
The city has spent $200,000 in legal fees fighting a lawsuit filed by Paxton, who claims that the ordinance violates the Texas Constitution, which requires cities to enforce state drug laws. Denton Mayor Gerard Hudspeth said the city anticipated having to spend $500,000 more if they continued the legal battle.
“How much is somebody in the city’s life worth?” Councilman Brandon Chase McGee, who voted against repealing the ordinance, asked during the May 20 meeting. “We’re approaching $200,000. How much is someone in the city’s life worth? I don’t want people in this city to continue to have arrests on their record for low levels of marijuana.”
Paxton has filed lawsuits against five other cities — Austin, Elgin, Killeen, San Marcos, and Dallas — for allowing propositions that would decriminalize marijuana to appear on voters’ ballots.
In April, a Texas appeals court sided with Paxton, striking down voter-approved measures in Austin and San Marcos that decriminalized small amounts of marijuana.
“(The city) is citing the groundless lawsuit by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as reason to repeal the ordinance altogether,” Decriminalize Denton spokesperson Deb Armintor said in a press release. “The city of Dallas, whose own successful cannabis decriminalization initiative ordinance was modeled after Denton’s, hasn’t caved to Paxton’s bullying, and neither should Denton.”
Denton wants decriminalization, says former resident
Denton voters overwhelmingly supported weed decriminalization efforts in 2022, with 72% of them approving Proposition B.
This move to repeal Prop B doesn’t reflect what Dentonites want, Austin Zamharir, who grew up in Denton and is now executive director of the Texas Cannabis Collective, told Courier Texas.
“Thirty-three thousand residents used their vote to decriminalize marijuana,” Zamhariri said. “Denton may try to erase history, but they will never erase the will of the people.”
But Prop B was never enforced after its passage in 2022, and police never complied with the mandate at the direction of city officials.
“In short, the city does not have the authority to implement some provisions of Proposition B without changes to current drug laws by Congress and the Texas Legislature,” City Manager Sara Hensley wrote in a 2023 statement.
Zamharir called the move to repeal the ordinance despite it never being enforced “symbolic.”
“The fact that the city has decided to repeal the ordinance despite no enforcement is symbolic of the vitriol local elected officials hold toward their constituents, a plague that runs to the very top of Texas government,” Zamhariri said.
Paxton’s war on weed aligns with state lawmakers, as Senate Bill 3, which bans all forms of consumable THC products in the state, is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.
