Texas bill could decriminalize small marijuana amounts

joined the national movement to decriminalize marijuana. but a bill in a state house committee could start to change that. ABC-7’s andrew j. polk is live with the details. andrew? house bill 507 proposed by el paso democrat joe moody would de-criminalize having small amouts of pot. it’s one of several addressing marijuana this legislative session. but moody says it would have one of the biggest impacts. according to statistics from moody’s office, texas spends $734 million a year making 70,000 marijuana arrests and prosecutions. many involving young people with small amounts. today moody told me texas is wasting time and money on these minor offenses … he thinks a non-criminal fine should apply, like a traffic ticket. “So you’re not going to hav arrests, you’re not going to have jail time, you’re not going to go along with all these expenses that it costs us the taxpayers to do that. And, for the offender, they’re going to appear, pay a fine, and they’re going to be able to not be derailed from their life going forward.” coming up at 6, we’ll here more about the impacts this bill could have… and what el pasoans have to say about the possibility. estela? we’re going back to our stormtrack