How this score is worked out
Seven kinds of act move this number, and they do not count equally. A recorded vote counts 3, and so does authoring a bill or signing an executive action; signing on to somebody else’s bill counts 2. A statement or a questionnaire answer counts 2 as well, and an organisational endorsement counts 1. A vote takes its direction from the bill, whose effect is set out in advance; the rest take it from our reading of what was said, and each one below shows that reading and the reason for it. Acts shown with no number were examined and deliberately left out of the arithmetic, with a reason given.
- 2026-10-17 questionnaire — Wrote, in an answer to a question that did not mention cannabis, that Texas should end non-violent cannabis prosecutions, which is support for removing criminal penalties for non-violent cannabis offences, counted as +2 at weight 2
- 2026-02-03 questionnaire — Said he remains committed to the full legalisation and decriminalisation of marijuana at both state and federal level, and described authoring legislation to expand medical cannabis access for chronic pain patients, counted as +2 at weight 2
- 2025-05-22 Consumable hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids SB 3 — voted, counted as +2 at weight 3
- 2025-05-15 Grant programme for testing suspected THC HB 4879 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 3
- 2025-05-13 Texas Compassionate-Use Program HB 46 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 3
- 2025-05-12 Texas Compassionate-Use Program HB 46 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 3
- 2024-12-11 Low-THC cannabis for more conditions HB 1574 — signed on, counted as +1 at weight 3
- 2023-05-10 Repeal of the ban on hemp products for smoking HB 4918 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 1.8
- 2023-04-27 Penalties for possession HB 218 — voted, counted as +2 at weight 1.8
- 2023-04-18 Low-THC cannabis for more conditions HB 1805 — signed on, counted as +1 at weight 1.2
- 2023-04-12 Low-THC cannabis for more conditions HB 1805 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 1.8
- 2023-04-11 Low-THC cannabis for more conditions HB 1805 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 1.8
- 2023-03-20 Low-THC cannabis for more conditions HB 1805 — voted, counted as +1 at weight 1.8
- 2023-03-01 Low-THC cannabis for more conditions HB 3068 — signed on, counted as +1 at weight 1.8
Average on the −2 to +2 scale: 1.284. Full method and the bill table.
-
Authored2023-03-01
Filed HB 3068 (88R) on 2023-03-01 as primary author, relating to the medical use of low-THC cannabis by patients with certain medical conditions.
-
Vote2023-03-20
Voted Aye in House committee to report HB 1805, widening the medical conditions qualifying for low-THC cannabis, favorably to the full House. The committee minutes record the vote as 10 ayes and 0 nays.
-
Vote2023-04-11
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 143, passage to engrossment of CSHB 1805, widening the medical conditions qualifying for low-THC cannabis, which carried 121 Yeas to 23 Nays.
-
Vote2023-04-12
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 153, final House passage of HB 1805, widening the medical conditions qualifying for low-THC cannabis, which carried 127 Yeas to 19 Nays.
-
Coauthored2023-04-18
Signed on as a coauthor of HB 1805 (88R), relating to the medical use of low-THC cannabis by patients with certain medical conditions, on 2023-04-18.
-
Vote2023-04-25
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 446, third-reading passage of HB 114, on the possession, use, or delivery of marihuana or e-cigarettes on or near public school property or at certain school events. The measure carried, 145 Yeas to 2 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the possession, use, or delivery of marihuana or e-cigarettes on or near public school property or at certain school events." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V."; the printed form is matched to this member against the whole membership of the 88th House, who sat for House District 100.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: House Bill 114 is on this site’s unscored list: a school-discipline measure, not a cannabis-access measure. Its effect on cannabis is which school-discipline placement a student caught with marihuana receives — it moves marihuana into its own paragraph of Education Code Section 37.006(a)(2), out of the mandatory-expulsion trigger in Section 37.007(a)(3) and into the at-capacity in-school-suspension provision of Section 37.009(a-1) — and it does not change who may possess, buy, grow, prescribe or be prosecuted for cannabis.
The change the bill was carried for was adding e-cigarettes. Both of its record votes were near-unanimous and neither separates the candidates on this site: every one of the 97 who appear in the passage roll is in the Yeas. The act is recorded without moving the score.
-
Vote2023-04-27
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 605, third-reading passage of HB 218, reducing the criminal and licensing consequences of possessing marihuana and certain tetrahydrocannabinols, which carried 87 Yeas to 59 Nays.
-
Vote2023-05-02
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 812, third-reading passage of HB 2818, on hemp production and research permits. The bill passed, 126 Yeas to 17 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the production and regulation of hemp; providing an administrative penalty; requiring a permit to conduct certain research involving hemp; authorizing a fee; creating a criminal offense." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V.", the only entry in the roll bearing the surname.
The bare surname is resolved by seat: this member sits for House District 100, and Texas Legislature Online's member page for the 88th Legislature names that district's representative as Venton Jones.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: House Bill 2818 is on this site's unscored list: Hemp production and research permits. An agricultural measure whose direction on consumer access is not clear from the bill. The act is recorded without moving the score.
-
Vote2023-05-10
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 1421, third reading of HB 4918, on the processing, manufacture and sale of hemp products for smoking, which failed to pass 69-75 and was reconsidered later the same evening. The bill failed to pass, 69 Yeas to 75 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the processing, manufacture, and sale of hemp products for smoking." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V.", the only entry in the roll bearing the surname.
The bare surname is resolved by seat: this member sits for House District 100, and Texas Legislature Online's member page for the 88th Legislature names that district's representative as Venton Jones.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: ⚠️This vote was annulled by the House itself, so it is shown and not counted. House Bill 4918 failed on this roll call, and the House then agreed to reconsider it later the same evening, after which the bill passed on Record Vote 1477. Only that final roll call moves the score. A member appearing both here and on Record Vote 1477 has not been recorded twice over: the House put the same question twice, and the second answer is the one that stood.
-
Vote2023-05-10
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 1476, the motion to reconsider the vote by which HB 4918, on hemp products for smoking, had failed to pass earlier that evening. The motion prevailed, 97 Yeas to 31 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the processing, manufacture, and sale of hemp products for smoking." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V.", the only entry in the roll bearing the surname.
The bare surname is resolved by seat: this member sits for House District 100, and Texas Legislature Online's member page for the 88th Legislature names that district's representative as Venton Jones.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: ⚠️A procedural motion, not a position on the bill, so it is shown and not counted. This roll call is the motion to reconsider the vote by which House Bill 4918 had failed earlier the same evening; the motion prevailed 97 to 31 and the bill then passed on Record Vote 1477. A member may be willing to take a question again without that telling you what they think the answer is, which is why motions of this kind never move the score.
-
Vote2023-05-10
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 1477, third reading of HB 4918, on the processing, manufacture and sale of hemp products for smoking, on the reconsidered vote, which passed 84-59. The bill passed, 84 Yeas to 59 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the processing, manufacture, and sale of hemp products for smoking." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V.", the only entry in the roll bearing the surname.
The bare surname is resolved by seat: this member sits for House District 100, and Texas Legislature Online's member page for the 88th Legislature names that district's representative as Venton Jones.
-
Authored2024-12-11
Filed HB 1574 (89R) on 2024-12-11 as primary author, relating to the medical use of low-THC cannabis by patients with certain medical conditions.
-
Vote2025-05-12
Voted Yea as CSHB 46 (89R) was passed to engrossment on Record Vote 2184, 118 Yeas to 16 Nays, on 2025-05-12.
-
Vote2025-05-13
Voted Yea as HB 46 (89R) was passed on third reading on Record Vote 2257, 122 Yeas to 21 Nays, on 2025-05-13.
-
Vote2025-05-14
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 2495, passage of SB 1833, as amended, to third reading, on the use of a social media platform in furtherance of a controlled-substance delivery offence. The measure carried, 135 Yeas to 2 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the use of a social media platform in furtherance of an offense involving the delivery of a controlled substance; increasing criminal penalties." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V."; the printed form is matched to this member against the whole membership of the 89th House, who sat for House District 100.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: Senate Bill 1833 is on this site’s unscored list: it raises the penalty for delivering any controlled substance when a social media platform is used to arrange the delivery, and the floor remarks describe it wholly as a response to counterfeit fentanyl pills sold to schoolchildren. The only cannabis-specific change the House made to it, Amendment No. 1, adopted immediately before Record Vote 2495, exempts delivery of four ounces of marihuana or less from the enhancement.
Its direction on cannabis access is therefore arguable, and the vote is recorded without moving the score.
-
Vote2025-05-15
Texas House: recorded Nay on Record Vote 2629, final House passage of HB 4879, funding local law enforcement to test substances suspected of containing delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, which carried 128 Yeas to 11 Nays.
-
Vote2025-05-15
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 2594, third-reading passage of SB 1833, on the use of a social media platform in furtherance of a controlled-substance delivery offence. The measure carried, 136 Yeas to 3 Nays. The bill is captioned "Relating to the use of a social media platform in furtherance of an offense involving the delivery of a controlled substance; increasing criminal penalties." The journal prints this member in the Yea list as "Jones, V."; the printed form is matched to this member against the whole membership of the 89th House, who sat for House District 100.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: Senate Bill 1833 is on this site’s unscored list: it raises the penalty for delivering any controlled substance when a social media platform is used to arrange the delivery, and the floor remarks describe it wholly as a response to counterfeit fentanyl pills sold to schoolchildren. The only cannabis-specific change the House made to it, Amendment No. 1, adopted immediately before Record Vote 2495, exempts delivery of four ounces of marihuana or less from the enhancement.
Its direction on cannabis access is therefore arguable, and the vote is recorded without moving the score.
-
Vote2025-05-21
Was recorded Absent, Excused on Record Vote 3192 of 2025-05-21, when CSSB 3 (89R) was passed to third reading 95 Yeas to 44 Nays; he filed no statement of vote on that record.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but not counted in the score: This site scores a vote only on a recorded Yea or Nay, and reads no direction into an absence or a present-not-voting.
-
Vote2025-05-22
Voted Nay as SB 3 (89R), as amended, was passed on Record Vote 3304, 87 Yeas to 54 Nays, on 2025-05-22.
-
Vote2025-05-22
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 3303, adoption of Amendment No. 1 to SB 3 on third reading, rewriting the possession offence in the bill and its eligibility for deferred disposition, which carried 108 Yeas to 30 Nays.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but deliberately left out of the score: A floor amendment does not take the direction of the bill it amends. Amendment No. 1 to SB 3 rewrote the possession offence downward while the bill itself restricted consumable hemp, so a Yea on the amendment and a Yea on the bill point opposite ways. This record is shown because the member is named in the journal, and it is kept out of the score because its direction is not ours to assert.
-
Vote2025-06-01
Was recorded Absent, Excused on Record Vote 4163 of 2025-06-01, when the conference committee report on HB 46 (89R) was adopted 138 Yeas to 1 Nay.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but not counted in the score: This site scores a vote only on a recorded Yea or Nay, and reads no direction into an absence or a present-not-voting.
-
Vote2025-06-02
Texas House: recorded Yea on Record Vote 4167, adoption of HCR 171, the second enrolling correction to HB 46, which instructed the enrolling clerk of the house to strike from the enrolled bill a sentence allowing low-THC cannabis prescribed for pulmonary inhalation to exceed one percent tetrahydrocannabinols by weight in each dosage unit. The resolution was adopted 138 Yeas to 0 Nays with 1 present not voting, and the House Journal for the 81st Day names this member in the printed Yeas list.
WeedVoter’s note — shown here, but not counted in the score: This site deliberately does not score HCR 171 (89th Legislature), so a record on it moves no number.
Why HCR 171 is not scored
A concurrent resolution, not a bill: it instructed the enrolling clerk to strike from the enrolled HB 46, in Section 16, added Section 169.006(b), Occupations Code (page 11, lines 16-20), the sentence “Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, low-THC cannabis prescribed under Subsection (a) for pulmonary inhalation may exceed one percent by weight of tetrahydrocannabinols in each dosage unit of the substance to be aerosolized or vaporized.”
Adopted 2025-06-02 by Record Vote 4167, 138 Yeas to 0 Nays with 1 present not voting, House Journal 81st Day pages 7921-7922.
⚠️Read alone it looks like stripping a potency allowance out of the medical programme, and the journals say otherwise. The sentence entered the bill through King's floor Amendment No. 1 on second reading, House Journal 62nd Day, 2025-05-12 (journals.house.texas.gov/hjrnl/89r/html/89RDAY62FINAL.HTM), item (10); item (9) of the same amendment fixed the definition of low-THC cannabis at not more than one percent by weight in each dosage unit, which is the benchmark the sentence excepts itself from.
The conference committee report laid before the house on 2025-06-01 replaced that cap with not more than 10 milligrams in each dosage unit, and its own text of Section 169.006(b) consists only of the second sentence: the notwithstanding clause does not appear anywhere in the conference report as printed, House Journal 80th Day page 7900. So the struck sentence was not in the text either chamber finally adopted and it pointed at a cap the same report had deleted.
HCR 171 conformed the enrolled bill to the bill that passed, which is what its own recital says and what 138 to 0 looks like; HB 46 took a second enrolling correction the day before, SCR 56 at Record Vote 4164. A Yes on an enrolling correction is not a position on potency. The enrolled text itself cannot be checked from here: capitol.texas.gov disallows /TLODOCS/ to us.
-
Questionnaire2026-02-03
Answered the Dallas Morning News candidate questionnaire in its 2026 voter guide. The paper asked every candidate in the race: "How do you think the president’s executive order to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug will affect THC regulation in Texas?" The answer given was: "The federal reclassification of marijuana as a Schedule III drug acknowledges the proven medical utility of cannabis and will increase pressure on Texas to modernize our Compassionate Use Program.
This shift opens the door for robust clinical research and begins to address the banking hurdles that have long hampered the industry." They continued: "In Texas, I have already championed this progress by authoring legislation to expand medical cannabis access for chronic pain patients, providing a safer alternative to opioids. While reclassification is a welcome step, I remain committed to the full legalization and decriminalization of marijuana at both the state and federal levels to ensure our laws reflect modern science and social justice, and that law enforcement resources are focused on violent crime rather than non-violent offenses."
-
Questionnaire2026-10-17
Answered the League of Women Voters' VOTE411 questionnaire for Texas House District 100. None of the League's questions for this race asks about cannabis. Asked "OTHER ISSUES: What other issues do you believe will be most pressing in the next session of the Texas Legislature, and what are your positions on these issues?", he named criminal justice reform, voting rights and affordability, said that as Vice Chair of Corrections he would keep pushing to reduce recidivism, expand good-conduct credits and modernise the justice system, and wrote: "We should also end non-violent cannabis prosecutions and protect voting rights against harmful suppression efforts."
He raised cannabis himself; he did not name a bill.
⚠️The guide publishes no date for these answers, so the date above is the date we read it, not the date he wrote it.