Willie Nelson has endorsed a proposed update to the Dallas charter that would decriminalize low-level marijuana possession. Called Proposition R, it will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.
“Marijuana is an herb, not a crime,” said Nelson, a longtime marijuana advocate, in an Instagram story on Oct. 11. “Proposition R in Dallas is about fairness and freedom. I’m proud to support the fight to decriminalize. Vote for Prop R!”
The Texas-born singer has sat on the advisory board for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, founded a cannabis brand called Willie’s Reserve and smoked with fellow weed enthusiast Snoop Dogg.
His well-known use of marijuana has placed him at odds with state law on a few occasions. Recreational use of the drug is illegal in Texas.
Nelson was arrested for marijuana possession in Dallas in 1974, in Waco in 1995 and in Sierra Blanca in 2010. The 2010 arrest happened when an officer observed a suspicious odor from Nelson’s tour bus at a border checkpoint, ABC News reported. Police found six ounces of marijuana.
Under Proposition R, the smell of marijuana would no longer be probable cause for search or seizure, except for felony investigations. The proposition would also ban arrests and citations of people carrying four ounces or less of marijuana.
Progressive nonprofit Ground Game Texas, which Nelson referenced in his Instagram story, drove efforts to put the measure on the ballot. The proposition’s supporters say it would allow police to dedicate resources toward more serious crimes. They also argue that it would reduce enforcement disparities related to the disproportionate arrest of Black people for drug possession.
“The war on drugs has failed our communities, and people are exhausted that we’ve invested in harsh laws that have harmed all of us,” said Catina Voellinger, Ground Game Texas’ executive director, to The Dallas Morning News in July.
Critics of the proposition fear it may result in increases in both drug sales and violent crime.
At a City Council meeting in August, then-police chief Eddie García said “four ounces is not a small amount, or for personal use,” KERA reported. He cited several murder cases where marijuana was involved, mostly centered on drug deals gone wrong.
In an editorial published in The News earlier this month, Mayor Eric Johnson and councilmember Cara Mendelsohn said Proposition R appears “straight-up illegal under state law.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed lawsuits in January against several Texas cities, including Austin and Denton, for adopting similar measures. The Austin lawsuit was dismissed in June.
