6 March 16-22, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents the protests worked. Coming together as a community to dem- onstrate in the Texas heat was effective in preventing any new fracking permits in the city, Spoon said. Today, she stands in solidar- ity with Decriminalize Denton and encour- ages its organizers to ready themselves for a fight. Denton resident Bess Whitby voted for the fracking ban in 2014 and for Prop B last November. To the marketing specialist, prosecuting weed offenses doesn’t seem like a wise use of city resources, especially since it disproportionately targets marginalized community members. The Texas Tribune re- ported that between 2019 and 2020, roughly 35% of Denton arrests involved Black people — despite the fact that the city’s Black popu- lation is around 11%. Whitby said she was angry and disap- pointed but not surprised to learn that Den- ton would not implement Prop B. “I am just really tired of being represented by people who are unwilling to enforce the things that are voted on,” she said. This latest experience was a letdown for Whitby, but it also served as motivation to hold officials’ feet to the fire. “I hope we can all remember that there are a lot of us,” she said. “It can feel very de- flating, but there are so, so many people in this county and in this state who want this to happen.” C ity Manager Hensley’s presentation neatly laid out the anti-Prop B argu- ments. She explained that municipal- ities and police departments can’t adopt policies that don’t “fully enforce state and federal laws relating to drugs.” She and the police chief couldn’t “direct otherwise,” she noted, pointing to other Texas cities that have faced skirmishes over similar ordi- nances. Officials in Bell County recently voted to sue Killeen, for instance, and the Harker Heights City Council cited its ordi- nance’s conflict with state law as reason to repeal. Legalization rumblings have started shaking up the Texas Capitol, though. House Bill 218 by Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody of El Paso would slash penalties for cannabis possession. Last week, a legislative panel unanimously voted to advance the bill. The burgeoning cannabis industry is proving to be quite lucrative. According to the Marijuana Policy Project advocacy orga- nization, legal-weed states as of last March reported a combined tax revenue of $11.2 billion from the sale of legal cannabis. Mean- while, marijuana-loving Texans often drive to other states to get their green, with dis- pensaries near the border attracting droves of customers. New Mexico shops closest to the Texas state line raked in more than $775,000 in recreational cannabis sales dur- ing their first weekend, according to Albu- querque Business First. Some say ignoring legal marijuana is a major miss for Texas’ business-minded Legislature. Colin Ross, a morning shift manager at the Smoke N Chill smoke shop in Denton, recalled voting for Prop B with others from his store. He said that he’s since spoken with customers who aren’t happy to learn the measure hasn’t been implemented. Decriminalizing weed in Denton would have been a great step toward progress in the Lone Star State, he said. The ordinance would help reassure Ross’ customers that they can buy what they need there without fear of prosecution. Ross predicts that Texas will eventually realize how much money is leaving the state and decide that it’s smarter to embrace le- galization. “The amount of people who come into my shop every day and are asking for delta products, asking for CBD products, things that help them medically, it grows more and more every single day,” Ross said. Phillip James Carter was somewhat opti- mistic when he first heard about Prop B and “infuriated” after it all but went up in smoke. He’s a second-generation marijuana grower who farms in Oklahoma, and members of his family have faced legal trouble over the product. Carter himself has spent time be- hind bars. “I’ve been incarcerated over five times simply over some plant matter,” he said. “I’m not a bad guy. I haven’t done any- thing wrong. So, for them to actually take the steps to put forward that [proposition], I mean, that was everything to me.” Even though marijuana is outlawed at the federal level, 21 states and Washing- ton, D.C., have legalized it recreationally. Two of Texas’ bordering states, Oklahoma and Arkansas, recently rejected pushes to follow suit while other neighboring states have chosen to take the plunge. To know that Denton is “backtracking hurts [his] heart,” Carter said. One way or another, though, Texas will have to get with the program. “The system is going to have loopholes and people are going to find a way to bring it,” he said. “Near Amarillo, people get it from New Mexico. If you go over towards El Paso, people are going to get it from Arizona. Go to the opposite side of Texas, they’re go- ing to get it from Louisiana. “There’s no truly fighting this,” he con- tinued, “so instead of going against us as the citizens and populace, I wish they would just be proactive with us.” A rmintor of Decriminalize Denton first got active in local politics after the town’s council repealed the fracking ban in June 2015. City officials claimed at the time they had no other choice because of state law, but Armintor disagrees. “That was the thing that made me an ac- tivist in Denton: that attack on our democ- racy,” she said. “And since then, I’ve just been nonstop involved.” Armintor eventually ran for and served on Denton City Council but decided not to seek reelection last year. To her, blaming the state isn’t a sound excuse to not implement Prop B, which she says was “expressly writ- ten” to conform to Texas law. She also said that similar ordinances in Austin and Elgin have been running smoothly since they passed and classified the potential legal challenges faced by other participating Texas cities as “frivolous.” Armintor noted that weed decriminaliza- tion is popular among folks across the political spectrum. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a flamboyantly conservative fire- brand, even supports the idea of legal medical marijuana, as do a whopping 82% of Texans, according to polls. Alicia Claytor At Smoke N Chill, Colin Ross listens to frustrated customers talk about Prop B. Alicia Claytor Left: Bess Whitby voted for the fracking ban in 2014 and for Proposition B. Above: Deb Armintor is an activist with Decrimilnalize Denton after serving on Denton City Council. Alicia Claytor Unfair Park from p3 >> p8
