BILL ANALYSIS |
|
C.S.H.B. 2165 |
|
By: Simpson |
|
Criminal Jurisprudence |
|
Committee Report (Substituted) |
|
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Certain interested parties contend that the first ordinance in the nation outlawing the use of the marihuana plant was adopted in El Paso, and these parties explain that this ordinance at the time was seen as a means of addressing what was perceived to be the rowdy behavior of young male refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution and seeking work in Texas. The parties, however, agree with the scholars who attribute the purpose of these types of ordinances to untruthful hype, racism, and the possible motivations of certain industries seeking to control competition from hemp in some commodities markets. These parties contend that marihuana and its cousin plant, hemp, can not only provide significant medicinal benefits to individuals but can also produce economic benefits to the state. The parties further assert that even though some legislative proposals being discussed would create substantial regulations and licensing schemes, the repeal of marihuana offenses from Texas statutes would reshape the current debate in such a way that focus would shift from the current debate surrounding prohibition to a debate about how to provide for medical marihuana in a way that would not require substantial state oversight. C.S.H.B. 2165 seeks to repeal certain marihuana offenses.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill expressly does one or more of the following: creates a criminal offense, increases the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or changes the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2165 repeals Health and Safety Code provisions establishing the offenses of possession of marihuana and delivery of marihuana and amends the Health and Safety Code to remove the offense of delivery of marihuana to a child. The bill instead makes it a Class C misdemeanor to, with criminal negligence, sell, give, or cause to be sold or given marihuana to a minor or to a person who intends to deliver it to a minor. The bill establishes that an employee of the owner of a store in which marihuana is sold at retail is criminally responsible and subject to prosecution for an offense that occurs in connection with a sale by the employee. The bill establishes a defense to prosecution for the offense of selling or distributing marihuana to a minor if the person to whom the marihuana was sold or given presented to the defendant apparently valid proof of identification and establishes that proof of identification satisfies this defense if it contains a physical description and photograph consistent with the person's appearance, purports to establish that the person is 18 years of age or older, and was issued by a governmental agency, including a driver's license issued by Texas or another state, a passport, or an identification card issued by a state or the federal government. The bill establishes a presumption that the defendant was presented with an apparently valid proof of identification if the defendant shows that a transaction scan device capable of deciphering electronically readable information on a driver's license, commercial driver's license, or identification certificate used at the time the marihuana was sold or given, confirmed that the proof of identification was valid. The bill creates an exception to the application of the offense that the actor providing marihuana to the minor was the minor's parent or guardian and the parent or guardian directly supervised the minor's possession or use of the marihuana.
C.S.H.B. 2165 requires each retailer to notify each individual employed by that retailer who is to be engaged in retail sales of marihuana that state law prohibits the sale or distribution of marihuana to any person who is younger than 18 years of age and that a violation of that law is a Class C misdemeanor. The bill requires the notice to be provided within 72 hours of the date an individual begins to engage in retail sales of marihuana and requires the individual to signify that the individual has received the notice by signing a form stating that the law has been fully explained, that the individual understands the law, and that the individual, as a condition of employment, agrees to comply with the law. The bill requires each form signed by the individual to indicate the date of the signature and the current address of the individual and requires the retailer to retain the form signed by each individual employed as a retail sales clerk until the 60th day after the date the individual has left the employer's employ. The bill makes it a Class C misdemeanor for a retailer required to notify employees to fail, on demand of a peace officer or an agent of the comptroller of public accounts, to provide the required forms. The bill establishes a defense to prosecution for such an offense that the retailer shows proof that the employee did complete, sign, and date the forms and requires the proof to be shown to the comptroller or an agent of the comptroller not later than the seventh day after the date of the peace officer's or agent's demand to provide the forms.
C.S.H.B. 2165 makes it a Class C misdemeanor for a retailer or other person to offer marihuana for sale in a manner that permits a customer direct access to the marihuana or to install or maintain a vending machine containing marihuana. The bill exempts from application of this offense a facility or business that is not open to minors at any time. The bill makes it a Class C misdemeanor to distribute to a minor a free sample of marihuana or a coupon or other item that the recipient may use to receive free or discounted marihuana or a sample of marihuana. The bill makes it a Class C misdemeanor to accept or redeem, offer to accept or redeem, or hire a person to accept or redeem a coupon or other item that the recipient may use to receive free or discounted marihuana or a sample of marihuana if the recipient is a minor.
C.S.H.B. 2165 requires the comptroller to enforce the bill's provisions relating to the sale or distribution of marihuana to minors in partnership with local law enforcement agencies and authorizes the comptroller to make block grants to counties and municipalities to be used by local law enforcement agencies to enforce those provisions in a manner that can reasonably be expected to reduce the extent to which marihuana is sold or distributed to minors. The bill requires the comptroller to rely, to the fullest extent possible, on local law enforcement agencies to enforce those provisions. The bill authorizes the comptroller to enter into interagency contracts with other state agencies to facilitate the effective administration and enforcement of those provisions and authorizes those agencies to assist the comptroller in the administration and enforcement of the provisions. The bill requires the use of a minor to act as a minor decoy to test compliance with those provisions to be conducted in a fashion that promotes fairness and sets out the requirements a person must meet to be enlisted by the comptroller or a local law enforcement agency to act as a decoy. The bill requires a local or state law enforcement agency or other governmental unit to notify the comptroller, on the 10th day of each month, or the first working day after that date, of any violation of those provisions that occurred in the preceding month that the agency or unit detects, investigates, or prosecutes.
C.S.H.B. 2165 amends the Education Code to remove conduct involving marihuana from the conduct for which a student is required to be removed from class, for which a student is authorized to be expelled, and to which statutory provisions relating to school principal reports to law enforcement and limits on liability for reporting certain student conduct apply.
C.S.H.B. 2165 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure, Government Code, Insurance Code, Penal Code, and Tax Code to make conforming changes. The bill amends the Human Resource Code, including provisions amended by S.B. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, to make conforming changes.
C.S.H.B. 2165 prohibits the prosecution of a possession of marihuana offense or delivery of marihuana offense after the bill's effective date. The bill establishes that a criminal action pending for such an offense on the bill's effective date is dismissed on that date but that a final conviction for such an offense that exists on the bill's effective date is unaffected by the bill's provisions. The bill makes its provisions applicable to an offense committed before, on, or after the bill's effective date that involves delivery of marihuana to a child; possession or delivery of drug paraphernalia; illegal barter, expenditure, or investment; or directing activities of criminal street gangs but establishes that a final conviction for such an offense that exists on that date is unaffected by the bill's provisions.
C.S.H.B. 2165 repeals the following provisions: · Article 13.22, Code of Criminal Procedure · Section 481.002(26), Health and Safety Code · Section 481.120, Health and Safety Code · Section 481.121, Health and Safety Code · Section 159.001(4), Tax Code · Section 159.101(e), Tax Code
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2015.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2165 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill and does not indicate differences relating to changes made by S.B. 219, Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, which became effective April 2, 2015.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|