AUSTIN - For the first time, a committee in the Legislature has approved a bill to decriminalize possession of marijuana, a move advocates hailed as a milestone moment in Texas. The measure, which would make possession of less than an ounce of pot a civil infraction instead of a class B misdemeanor, will now go to the committee that controls the floor calendar. Recreational use of pot is now legal in Colorado and Washington while public opinion polls show growing nationwide support for such measures. State Rep.