Lawmakers in Lubbock, Texas have scheduled a vote on an initiative that would decriminalize marijuana possession.
The Lubbock City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to place the initiative, put forth by the group Lubbock Compact, on the ballot during a May 4 special election. The vote comes roughly a month after the council rejected the initiative following Lubbock Compact submitted over double the required signatures to force a vote.
“The heart of our ordinance is pretty simple. We just don’t think people should go to jail for personal use of marijuana in Lubbock”, ” says Adam Hernandez, communications chair for Lubbock Compact.
Under the proposed ordinance, the city would end arrests and citations for the misdemeanor possession of marijuana. The measure also decriminalizes marijuana paraphernalia.
Last November five Texas cities, with support ranging between 60% and 82%, all passed similar ordinances to Lubbock’s Freedom Act.
“This was a collective effort that could not have been possible without the more than 40 volunteers and the many other citizens that helped us collect these petition signatures and did the necessary work of notarizing, tallying and verifying,” Hernandez said last month. “What will happen next is up to each and every citizen of Lubbock. We need each and every person, especially the ones who have been sitting out of elections, to get registered and make your voice heard at the ballot box.”
