“There really are no experts when it comes to marijuana laws because it’s just so complicated,” Frank Snyder said to the Herald over the phone on Wednesday. Snyder is a professor at Texas A&M University Law School and teaches a class on the subject of cannabis laws.
Austin-based activist group Ground Game Texas, along with Minor and Fleming, have been pushing to have low level marijuana possession decriminalized in the city of Killeen.
The Killeen City Council scheduled a public hearing on the issue July 19, and advocates say the measure could be on city ballot in November.
But can a city pass a law that violates state or federal laws?
Snyder points to the Controlled Substances Act, passed by Congress, which places marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug.
“We passed it because under international laws, it’s a Schedule 1 drug and we have treaty obligations to do so. So to say ‘decriminalize’ isn’t the right word, because it’s criminal everywhere but the federal government does not have the power to compel states or local officials to enforce federal laws,” Snyder said.
