Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the City of Dallas and local officials on Wednesday for adopting a city charter amendment that aims to decriminalize marijuana-related offenses.
Earlier this month, Dallas voters decided to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, making the city one of the largest in the country to do so. The ballot measure, known as Proposition R, passed with 66% support on Nov. 5.
The proposition would prohibit Dallas police from using the smell of weed as probable cause to search or seize items or to make an arrest or citation for pot if a felony isn’t involved.
According to the Texas Attorney General's office, the proposition would prohibit police from enforcing Texas law.
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Paxton's office said in a statement on Thursday morning that "municipalities cannot refuse to enforce Texas drug laws concerning the possession and distribution of marijuana—an illicit substance that psychologists have increasingly linked to psychosis and other negative consequences."
"Texas Local Government Code forbids any political subdivision from adopting 'a policy under which the entity will not fully enforce laws relating to drugs.' Further, the Texas Constitution makes it unlawful for municipalities to adopt ordinances that are inconsistent with the laws enacted by the Texas Legislature (Article XI, Section 5)," the Texas Attorney General's office said in a statement on Thursday.
Paxton has already sued other cities, like Austin and Denton, for passing similar pot measures since the substance is still illegal on a state and federal level.
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"Cities cannot pick and choose which state laws they follow," Paxton said. "The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them. This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”
On Nov. 19, the Dallas City Council rejected an effort to add language to the resolution that would have limited the city from enacting Proposition R. The vote came as the City Council completed the required procedure of canvassing the Nov. 5 election results and approving payments to the Dallas County Elections Department for administering the general election.
