Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in 22 states with more to follow, marijuana legalization seems inescapable -- even in "law and order" states such as Texas. The question is no longer if Texas will legalize, but when? This question has significant policy implications for incarceration prices, civil liberties and medical marijuana patients. In this Baker Institute Perspectives series, five leading experts on marijuana reform analyze the question, "When will Texas legalize pot?"
texas marijuana laws
As president of the Houston chapter of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), I get the question "When will Texas alter its marijuana laws?" all the time. We had this discussion in the Drug Policy Forum of Texas on-line e-mail list, and the solution depends on what you consider legalization. In the marijuana law reform community we've started referring to it as "regulation," because in some people's heads, "legalization" means weed all around the area -- but when folks hear "regulation," they seem to be more comfortable with the notion and see it as a more thought-out procedure with limits.
On the question of when
marijuana legalization in texas, I am an optimist. We have had some improvement in Texas from the draconian laws of the 1970s that made owning any amount of cannabis a felony, so the procedure for regulating cannabis in Texas has started, though it has procrastinated as of late. The most recent reform bill was passed in 2007, HB 2391, which was a general crime reform bill that permitted police officers to issue a summons instead of detaining people for certain category B misdemeanors. This reform has just been used in a few counties thus far, though Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia recently talked about using it within his authority.
For medical marijuana, I predict Texas will pass legislation in 2015, though it will be quite limited. A recent Kinder Institute poll found that 72 percent of Houston-area residents think we should fine instead of incarcerate individuals for possessing small quantities of the substance, and 65 percent think medical marijuana should be legalized. Sanjay Gupta's CNN special report "Weed" brought attention to the advantages of medical marijuana, particularly regarding children using medical cannabis for epilepsy and other debilitating conditions. This was undoubtedly an eye opener for Americans -- the people can no longer be told that cannabis has no medical value and be expected to consider it.
Another option for medical marijuana reform is a bill permitting CBD (cannabidiol), a nonpsychoactive element of grass that has many medical benefits. A few states have passed CBD bills that allow for an orally ingested oil that would contain less than 1 percent of THC. While this is amazing news for patients with epilepsy and other conditions this ratio works best for, we have to bear in mind that some patients need other regions of the plant. This may partly explain why Marinol -- a legal option to natural cannabis -- didn't become more broadly used. It's synthetic THC, so patients that needed the other properties of the plant could not benefit from this pharmaceutical replacement.
State Rep. Elliott Naishtat is intending on reintroducing his affirmative defense bill, which allows people to use medical need as a defense in court for a charge of marijuana possession, though this is not technically a medical marijuana bill. Some patients don't like this bill because it puts too much onus on the patient -- they would rather not get arrested at all and must go through a trial simply to prove a doctor recommended their medication. I haven't learned of any other medical marijuana bills being contemplated yet, but things can change rapidly once the elections are around in November.
I believe a bill that would regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol can be achieved in the next three years. Individuals are realizing that the sky has not fallen in Colorado, and the quantity of tax revenue being generated shows how much cash is being taken out of the black market and set into a regulated market. It's also been shown that marijuana will cause no more harm to your body than booze, so at the very least it should be controlled like alcohol. This notion resonates with individuals, especially when they relate the failures of marijuana prohibition to alcohol prohibition in the 1920s.
Controlling grass is the most suitable choice in my opinion, as law enforcement already knows just how to enforce alcohol laws. Moving supply from the black market to a regulated market would provide consumers with the safeguards of a legal marketplace. One medical marijuana patient explained that he was once held up at gunpoint and robbed while attempting to get his medicine. When dealing with a criminal element, business disagreements aren't managed in a court of law. Consumers are managed on the roads. You don't have that dilemma with normal commerce.
Whether legalizing or controlling bud, it isn't a matter of "if" anymore, but "when." The glaring difficulties of cannabis prohibition are coming to light as a growing number of folks see that it does more harm than good. There are some individuals who shouldn't use cannabis, but if someone has a problem with the drug, they need treatment, not incarceration.
It's time to be bold, Texas -- expose cannabis prohibition for what it's, and send it the method of alcohol prohibition.
