Texas needs to stop shooting down modern cannabis laws.
25 March 2024- It's a tough topic to talk about, but when I was living in South Africa, we lost my kids grandfather to a long, horrific battle with cancer. I’m sure some of you have similar “cancer” experiences. You know how bad the situation can get. The one item that really helped “Papa” was marijuana. It alleviated the pain. It eased his fear of death.
Now eight years since his passing, I believe Texas’ current marijuana laws don’t go far enough.
Since 2015, Texas has taken marijuana baby steps including legalizing hemp and creating the Texas Compassionate Use Program (CUP). The latter initially allowed physicians to prescribe low THC cannabis for certain medical conditions. In 2021, Texas Rep. Stephanie Klick authored HB1353 that allowed patients with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and cancer to receive benefits from a raised 1% THC limit. In 2023, Klick tried to take this a step further with HB1805 to expand access to medical cannabis for Texans with chronic pain. It passed the Texas House by a large majority, but died in the Texas Senate.
Today Texas’ CUP has around 10,000 to 12,000 active participants. To compare, Florida has approximately 800,000 patients enrolled in their medical marijuana program. The higher patient numbers are understandable because of the long list of medical benefits marijuana has. Many older Americans use marijuana to mitigate chronic pain and other ailments that occur as we age.
At the same time, Americans have seen adverse side-effects associated with prescription drugs, like opioids or sleep aids. It is the opioids that include heroin, but also prescription pills and fentanyl that have caused the most overdose deaths in Texas.
Texans need alternatives.
Statistics show alcohol shouldn’t be that alternative. Drunk driving deaths in Texas increase every year and the Lone Star State was recently ranked the third-worst state for drunk driving. Texas currently averages three drunk driving deaths a day with a shocking 1162 lives lost. Not only is there the human and emotional devastation associated with drunk driving deaths, but a substantial economic impact also comes with it. American crash deaths in 2020 involving alcohol-impaired drivers totaled $123.3 billion dollars for the year.
Despite marijuana’s shorter list of negatives compared to alcohol, recreational marijuana is still illegal in Texas. In fact, Texas led the nation in marijuana possession arrests in 2021 with more than 21,000 arrests or 12% of the entire country’s total. Under Texas Law, Possession of between 4 ounces and 5 pounds of marijuana is a felony, punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 180 days imprisonment, a maximum of 2 years imprisonment, and a fine not to exceed $10,000.
Similar to medical marijuana expansion, most Texas legislators are in favor of lowering the penalties associated with marijuana. The Texas House of Representatives passed HB218 in 2023 that would have made "possession of up to one ounce of marijuana a Class C misdemeanor, removing the risk of jail time and instead imposing a maximum fine of $500.” Unfortunately, a familiar story with HB218 unfolded: it died in the Texas Senate.
We need to use common sense. All Texans over 21 can legally drink an unlimited number of beers and copious amounts of hard alcohol, and some can legally get access to the well-known marijuana medical benefits. However, your average Texan can be thrown in jail for having marijuana? Imagine the negative impact this arrest has on one’s life, especially the Texas youth. Moreover, what is the cost in time and money to the entire Texas criminal justice system; from the police officer doing the arrest to the court officials and lawyers handling the cases? Texas spends approximately $3.3 billion dollars on its correctional system every year. Furthermore, Texas’ 242 county jails are overcrowded, with more than 70,000 inmates that have seen a rise in jail deaths, suicides and assaults. Texas governor Greg Abbott understands this and has been a vocal supporter of lowering marijuana penalties because of overcrowded Texas jails. Moreover, Texas’ hard-working men and women in blue should spend their time catching real criminals. Furthermore, Texans taxpayer money is better spent on positive life changing sectors like education or public health.
A growing number of Texans feel the same way. A recent University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll shows support for decriminalization with 63% of Republicans at least favoring reducing pot penalties, while 84% of Democrats and 66% of independents support the idea of decriminalization. Another recent poll from the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas at Tyler found 60% of people support legalizing the drug for recreational use, and 83% percent of Texans support legalizing medical marijuana in Texas.
When the day eventually comes when Texas approves full marijuana legalization, multiple economic benefits will come with it. Arizona with their 16% tax on recreational marijuana already recorded well over $1 billion dollars in tax revenue in 2023. Colorado makes more than $325 million dollars a year in marijuana tax revenue. Montana gets around 50 million dollars a year. It’s estimated that if, or when Texas makes the jump, it will bring in around $400 million not including the jobs it will create. As legalization spreads across the country, the US is consistently adding 100,000 cannabis related jobs to its economy every year.
To quote American astronomer, science communicator and lifelong marijuana user, Dr Carl Sagan: “The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.”
Let’s start by doing what makes sense in Texas, getting all our legislators on board to raise and expand medical marijuana while taking a long, hard look at decriminalization. It makes medical and financial sense. It has support from most politicians. Most importantly, it is what the Texas people want.