Dallas, Texas Pauses Voter-Approved Cannabis Decriminalization Charter

City officials in Dallas, Texas, have agreed to pause enforcement of the city’s cannabis decriminalization charter amendment approved by voters last November, according to a FOX 4 report.

Dallas is one of many Texas cities where voters have passed initiatives to implement local cannabis decriminalization reforms. However, the city agreed to drop the voter-backed measure due to pressure from the state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), who has sued the city — and other cities with similar local rules — for enacting policy that supersedes state law, under which cannabis remains strictly prohibited.

Dallas officials ordered the hold on the voter-backed charter after an appeals court ruling last month overturned a similar law in Austin.

At least eight Texas cities have passed some sort of local cannabis decriminalization measure, including Austin, Bastrop, Dallas, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, Lockhart, and San Marcos, although the Denton City Council would later vote to repeal the voter-approved reforms. Meanwhile, voters in recent years have rejected similar reforms in the cities of San Antonia and Lubbock.

Dallas approved the local cannabis decriminalization charter with 67% voter support.

According to former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Russell Wilson, the issue is likely to come down to a ruling by the state Supreme Court.

“The city can argue that it does have a right to pass the law as it did,” Wilson said in the report. “And that issue can be argued. It just means in the meantime, until that issue is argued, the city couldn’t begin immediately enforcing the law.”