Texas House scheduled to vote on cannabis decriminalization bill this week

The Texas House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a bill that would decriminalize low-level marijuana possession and set up a means for people to expunge past weed arrests. House Bill 218, penned by Texas Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, will now get a floor vote roughly six weeks after receiving unanimous approval from the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Under the measure, possession of up to an ounce of cannabis would be knocked down to a Class C misdemeanor, meaning its punishment would no longer include jail time, only a maximum fine of $500. Additionally, it would create a process through which people with possession convictions can have them expunged from their records.