Voters in Dallas on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a measure making the city the largest in Texas to approve decriminalizing cannabis.
Some 67% of voters there approved the Dallas Freedom Act, which would amend the city charter to stop cops from arresting or even ticketing people for possession of up to four ounces of weed, the Dallas Morning News reports .
However, under the charter change, authorities still would able to arrest people for marijuana possession in felony investigations linked to violence or narcotics distribution.
Progressive organizing group Ground Game Texas worked to collect more than 50,000 signatures to get the measure, known as Proposition R, on the ballot. The organization also helmed similar successful measures in Austin and other Texas cities.
“As exciting as tonight’s victory is, we know we have work to do in seeing that the policy is correctly implemented, as well as defending that implementation from baseless attacks by Attorney General Ken Paxton,” Catina Voellinger, Ground Game Texas’ executive director, said in an emailed statement.
At least a half dozen Texas cities have approved decriminalization at the ballot box in recent years. However, Houston and San Antonio have not yet made such a move.
Last year, Alamo City voters overwhelmingly rejected a measure backed by Ground Game Texas that tied decriminalization to a more controversial proposal expanding cite-and-release for minor crimes.
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