Decriminalization - what the hell does that mean?
Decriminalization is a buzzword that seems to be thrown around any time the topic of drug legislation is discussed whether it be on the level of national or local media or a more small scale conversation with friends or family.
I’m not going to spend the time talking about the origins of the phrase or it’s history of use, however, I do want to try and give some insight into what it means with respect to Texas Law and the way in which it’s used and implemented in Texas.
Before discussing Texas specifically, it’s important to understand what is happening nationally. To give a specific example, look at Oregon. In October of 2020 Oregon passed Measure 110 which changed the punishment for most Controlled Substance offenses from felony or misdemeanor to fine-only level offenses. This means that even with possession of small amounts of drugs like cocaine, heroin and fentanyl that a person found to be in possession of those drugs could only be fined, not given a sentence for jail time or probation.
This type of legislation is what is being referenced when people use the term “decriminalization”. The actual means by which, through legalization, the criminal penalties associated with possession of controlled substances. Similar legislation has been passed in other State’s.
Aside from actual legislation, in some areas there have been announcements by Elected Officials regarding official policies regarding how they will handle certain types of crimes. For example, the Los Angeles County District Attorney issued a memo stating that would not be prosecuting certain types of offenses. This was actually an extensive list that included drug possession, resisting arrest and theft, among others. While this was not actual legislation, it came directly from the person with authority to prosecute crimes.
Either way. In the cases of both of the examples above, there is something that can be definitively pointed to that can give a person comfort that situations involving the referenced types of criminal offenses will be handled in a specific way each time. So why is it different in Texas?
The answer is really pretty simple. Generally speaking, in Texas, there is not widespread legislation or publicly announced policies aimed at decriminalization.
Let’s make sure we’re not being misleading. There was some legislation passed in 2019 in Texas which legalized hemp and did make the prosecution of Marijuana more complicated. Similarly, in 2020, there was an announcement by the Austin Police Department it would not be citing or arresting people for misdemeanor levels of marijuana in many circumstances. It is likely that throughout Texas, there may have been other announcement made by local agencies.
However, what should be clear is that there is nothing of a similar scale to the examples from Oregon or Los Angeles that have happened in Texas. Generally speaking, if you are caught with any amount of marijuana or any other controlled substance in Texas, you are still very much at risk of being arrested and prosecuted. Although there may be certain offices with some policies regarding decriminalization there is no broad legislation or policies in place that should give any comfort that any interaction with police where a person caught with drugs will result in anything other than arrest and prosecution.
If you have been arrested or charged with a drug-related offense in the central Texas area contact an attorney from Villanueva, Salazar & Tucker at www.centraltexasjustice.com.