Marijuana reform advocates say there was unprecedented, bipartisan support for their efforts in this year’s legislative session, but it still wasn’t enough to change state law.

Marijuana reform advocates say there was unprecedented support for their efforts in this year’s legislative session, but the majority of Texas lawmakers still weren’t ready to change state law.

This legislative session, bills addressing medical cannabis and decriminalization once again died at the state Capitol despite having bipartisan support.

The past few days have been an emotional roller coaster for Texas cannabis activists. Last week, two marijuana reform bills were sailing through the Texas House, making it farther than similar proposals have in decades. By Saturday, both were dead.

The Texas state legislature only meets for a 140-day regular session in odd-numbered years.  Barring a special legislative session—something Gov. Greg Abbott seems unlikely to approve—there will be no cannabis reforms in Texas until the legislature meets again in 2019.

Time ran out in the Texas House late Thursday on a proposed law that would have reduced the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana in the state to below that of most traffic tickets.

A midnight deadline passed without the full House taking up House Bill 81 for initial consideration, meaning it and other House-originated bills remaining on its calendar are now dead as stand-alone legislation.

Marijuana reform is gaining major momentum in Texas this week, as the state House of Representatives looks set to vote Thursday on House Bill 81, which aims to decriminalize personal cannabis possession statewide.

If passed, the bill would radically change the way the state punishes low-level marijuana offenders. As it stands, Texans caught with even small amounts of marijuana can face six months in jail, $2,000 in fines and a permanent criminal record. The law would replace those stiff punishments with a $250 fine for possession of an ounce or less.

The law follows a push for leniency in some of Texas’s biggest cities:

A bill to allow severely ill or disabled patients to use medical cannabis has growing, bipartisan support. But time is running out for passage. Fri, May 5, 2017 at 1:22 pm CST Families hold up photos of their kids who suffer from debilitating ailments, who they say could be helped by legalizing medical marijuana.

Even as the Texas Legislature debates a robust medical marijuana bill, the state's first foray into using weed as a health care treatment is moving closer to liftoff with three companies leading the way — one of which has already disclosed plans for a North Austin grow site and processing facility.

The ambitious Democrat has put herself at odds with the US attorney general’s call for harsher drug policies – and it’s just the start of her plans.

In February, the newly-appointed US attorney general, Jeff Sessions, indicated he backed a hardline stance against marijuana. 

Also that month, the top prosecutor in the country’s third-most populous county announced that possession of small amounts of the drug would be decriminalised in the Houston, Texas, area.

While it’s not yet on calendars, April 20 has become the unofficial holiday of marijuana, particularly in the growing number of states where pot has been decriminalized for recreational use. “It has become hugely celebrated,” says Brett Konen, an editor with Seattle-based Leafly.com, which calls itself the world’s largest cannabis information source. The Trump administration has indicated it may crack down on marijuana, but the industry continues to grow for now. Konen shares cannabis culture hotspots with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY.

An article that was circulated online Thursday had many people believing marijuana had been legalized in Texas, but that was just a pipe dream.

Many people wrote and called KPRC 2 asking about the article, which stated that the Lone Star State had legalized cannabis. The article appeared to have originated from a website aimed at pranking friends with fake news stories.

Recreational marijuana is still illegal for Texans, and there is only one lawful use for medical marijuana in the state -- treating patients suffering from intractable epilepsy.