A group of Democrats and Republicans introduced a proposal last week to decriminalize marijuana possession.
House Bill 507, filed by state Rep. Joe Moody, would penalize those caught with an ounce of pot or less with a $100 fine.
Currently, some of those people could face up to six months in jail, a fine of up to to $2,000 and a criminal record.
Chris Kirk, the Brazos County Sheriff and a spokesman for the Sheriffs’ Association of Texas, said the association will oppose any attempts at decriminalizing marijuana.
“After that, the next step is to legalize the use of medical marijuana, and then of course once all that is in place, they come back and try to legalize marijuana for any purpose,” said Kirk.
Kirk said he and the Sheriff’s Association have interacted with sheriffs from Colorado, Oregon and Washington (states where marijuana is legal at some level), and they said it has caused several issues, and they are just now seeing the ramifications.
Kirk said Texas can avoid those ramifications by keeping the current justice system in place.
Click below to hear Sheriff Kirk visit with WTAW’s Chelsea Reber