San Antonio, Texas: Council Members Call for Study of Marijuana Legalization Ahead of Texas Session

Five San Antonio City Council members want the city to study what marijuana legalization would mean for the local economy, a request filed days after Texas Democrats swept the statewide races in the November 3 midterm elections and prepared to take power in January.

District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, who supports legalizing marijuana, filed the request for a study of how legalization could affect San Antonio's economy, including potential tax revenue and business growth. Four other council members signed it: Sukh Kaur, Edward Mungia, Teri Castillo and Ric Galvan. The group plans to discuss recommendations on how to form the study at the next available meeting of the council's Governance Committee.

The case for a study

McKee-Rodriguez said the point is to build a local record before the Texas Legislature comes back in January. If the city can make the case that San Antonio can benefit greatly from legalization, he said, the council can take that case to state legislators and to the city's delegation. A national daily brief on the proposal, published November 6, said the study would direct city staff to examine regulated marijuana markets in other places, including jobs, tax revenue and business development, and that the findings could shape the city's legislative priorities ahead of the January session.

He also argued that legalization could cut illegal sales, and he pointed to what a felony charge does to a young person's life in Texas today: a record can block college financial aid, certain jobs and the right to vote, consequences he said young people in states such as California do not face for the same conduct.

Shops that sell THC today

San Antonio already has a working hemp and THC retail trade, and shop owners told KSAT they hear the demand for full marijuana legalization from their own customers. Romish Abdul Rashid, who owns 21 smoke shops, said his stores sell THC products that can get people high, but customers are looking for marijuana because it is more potent. He said he hopes to convert a CBD dispensary into an actual dispensary one day, and he believes customers would accept taxes tied to legalization.

Opponents of legalization, as the KSAT report noted, argue it could create public safety risks, including concern that it could normalize the use of other illegal substances and that marketing could target young people.

A council member pushes back on timing

District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte did not take a position for or against legalization, but he called the push for a city funded study reactionary and said it comes too soon after a recent tax increase. Whyte said the city has many other things it needs to focus on, noting that 20 percent of San Antonio streets are in poor or failing condition, along with public safety issues and drainage problems.

No vote has been taken, and legalization itself is not a city decision: marijuana law in Texas is set by the state. What the council can do is decide whether to pay for the study, and the Governance Committee discussion is the next step. If the study goes ahead, its findings would land while a new set of state leaders, elected on November 3, prepares to open the January legislative session with cannabis policy back on the table.