Monday, January 29, 2024, at 10:00 am on the steps of the Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Riverfront Boulevard, Dallas, a coalition of community organizations including Ground Game Texas, Dallas Action, and Somos Tejas will announce the launch of a petition campaign to decriminalize marijuana in the City of Dallas.
Building off of successful marijuana reform campaigns in Texas cities including Austin, Denton, Killeen, and San Marcos, the organizations are collecting signatures on a City of Dallas Charter Amendment that would direct police to end enforcement of misdemeanor marijuana possession offenses in most circumstances.
The ballot measure, dubbed the “Dallas Freedom Act,” would end most tickets and arrests for Class A and Class B misdemeanor marijuana possession; would prohibit City funds for being used for chemical testing to distinguish legal “hemp” from illegal “marijuana,” and would require the City to publicly report on its marijuana enforcement programs. The campaign needs 20,000 signatures from City of Dallas voters to qualify for the ballot.
“The Dallas Freedom Act is a dynamic initiative that will reduce unnecessary arrests, address racial disparities in marijuana enforcement, and save millions of dollars in city and county resources for much needed public safety programs,” said Tristeza Ordex, Campaign Manager of Ground Game Texas. “Ground Game Texas is proud to partner with Dallas Action, Somos Tejas, and other community organizations to continue our success in putting popular reforms in front of voters — and we look forward to Dallas becoming a model for improving public safety and protecting civil rights through direct democracy.”
“This campaign is the next step in our ongoing work to end racist drug enforcement policies in the City of Dallas,” said Changa Higgins, founder of Dallas Action. “As our report of May 2023 documented, Black residents of Dallas make up a disproportionate number of arrests by Dallas police, including for minor marijuana possession offenses, and this racial disparity causes tremendous harm to our community.
“Our ballot measure will force the City to change its policies and end its unjust marijuana enforcement program. It’s time for the people, the voters of Dallas to decide at the polls.”
The Dallas Freedom Act campaign has a website at DecrimDallas.com. The campaign has been endorsed by several community organizations including Ground Game Texas, Dallas Action, Somos Tejas, Next Generation Action Network, the Afiya Center, MOVE Texas Action Fund, In Defense of Black Lives, Texas Poor People’s Campaign, The SERUN Foundation, UT Dallas Democrats, Our Liberation, and Citizen’s Lab.
WHAT: press conference to announce Dallas, Texas ballot initiative campaign
WHO: Representatives from Ground Game Texas, Dallas Action and Somos Tejas
WHERE: On the steps of the Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Riverfront Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75207
WHEN: Monday, January 29 at 10:00 am CT
Ground Game Texas is a voter engagement and mobilization organization founded by Julie Oliver and Mike Siegel in 2021. Based in Austin, Ground Game Texas seeks to organize voters community-by-community, collaborating with partners on the ground to meet voters at their doors and push for popular progressive policies across the state of Texas.
