Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
A fractious and consequential presidential election can obscure all other news, but Texans also should take note of a pivotal night when marijuana gained legal ground in a big way.
Voters in California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine approved it for recreational use, doubling the number of such states. Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas voters said yes to new medical marijuana laws, and Montana voted to expand patients' access.
That's the biggest election for marijuana law reform since 2012, when Colorado and Washington legalized recreational use. California, the nation's most populous state, voted to legalize use, possession, cultivation and sale by a resounding 56 percent to 44 percent.
If you're counting, that's now 29 states with some form of legal marijuana, giving access to more than 1 in 5 Americans.
Whatever that portends for Texas, similar to California in population and demographics, won't happen overnight, given the two big states' sharply different politics.
From a solidly GOP Legislature to Republicans in every statewide office, it's hard to imagine a fast track to reform here. This newspaper has supported legalizing marijuana for medical use in Texas, along with other common-sense changes to prohibitions against possession of small amounts.
Lawmakers should consider where public sentiment has moved. A majority of Americans, 53 percent, believe marijuana should be legal, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center poll.
Texans, despite a strict law-and-order reputation, are not so far off. A February 2015 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll found 42 percent willing to legalize pot for personal use; more than three quarters said they were fine with legal medical use.
Only 24 percent opposed legalization under any circumstance. That's about the same minority, 26 percent, that told UT/TT pollsters in June 2015 that they were against lowering the penalty for possessing small amounts to a citation and fine.
Texas, in fact, has had a law since 2007 that allows municipalities to issue written citations - effectively traffic tickets - for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Only a tiny percentage has taken advantage, despite the logic that writing citations keeps police on the streets where the public wants them. Dallas, most recently, failed to take this common-sense step.
Texas leaders also might consider that in the four states that just approved recreational marijuana, prominent elected officials opposed the measures - from longtime U.S. senators like Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein to the four affected governors, Republican and Democrat alike.
So much of what we once believed about marijuana, like the "gateway drug" theory, has long been debunked.
Increased legalization could help loosen restrictions on reputable research into marijuana's medical effects. Anecdotally, people with cancer, glaucoma, AIDS/HIV, Crohn's disease, hepatitis C and multiple sclerosis have found relief by using marijuana. But marijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug - with heroin, LSD and Ecstasy, among others - has hindered more study.
An obvious side benefit to that research would be more information available to Texans and their government representatives when the debate comes to our state, as it will, sooner or later.
Legal recreational marijuana
States that have voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana (by year of referendum):
2016: California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada
2014: Alaska, Oregon
2012: Colorado, Washington
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Texans Should Take Note Of A Pivotal Election To Reform Marijuana Laws
Author: Staff
Contact: Dallas News
Photo Credit: Kelly Kissel
Website: Dallas News
Voters in California, Nevada, Massachusetts and Maine approved it for recreational use, doubling the number of such states. Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas voters said yes to new medical marijuana laws, and Montana voted to expand patients' access.
That's the biggest election for marijuana law reform since 2012, when Colorado and Washington legalized recreational use. California, the nation's most populous state, voted to legalize use, possession, cultivation and sale by a resounding 56 percent to 44 percent.
If you're counting, that's now 29 states with some form of legal marijuana, giving access to more than 1 in 5 Americans.
Whatever that portends for Texas, similar to California in population and demographics, won't happen overnight, given the two big states' sharply different politics.
From a solidly GOP Legislature to Republicans in every statewide office, it's hard to imagine a fast track to reform here. This newspaper has supported legalizing marijuana for medical use in Texas, along with other common-sense changes to prohibitions against possession of small amounts.
Lawmakers should consider where public sentiment has moved. A majority of Americans, 53 percent, believe marijuana should be legal, according to a 2015 Pew Research Center poll.
Texans, despite a strict law-and-order reputation, are not so far off. A February 2015 University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll found 42 percent willing to legalize pot for personal use; more than three quarters said they were fine with legal medical use.
Only 24 percent opposed legalization under any circumstance. That's about the same minority, 26 percent, that told UT/TT pollsters in June 2015 that they were against lowering the penalty for possessing small amounts to a citation and fine.
Texas, in fact, has had a law since 2007 that allows municipalities to issue written citations - effectively traffic tickets - for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Only a tiny percentage has taken advantage, despite the logic that writing citations keeps police on the streets where the public wants them. Dallas, most recently, failed to take this common-sense step.
Texas leaders also might consider that in the four states that just approved recreational marijuana, prominent elected officials opposed the measures - from longtime U.S. senators like Harry Reid and Dianne Feinstein to the four affected governors, Republican and Democrat alike.
So much of what we once believed about marijuana, like the "gateway drug" theory, has long been debunked.
Increased legalization could help loosen restrictions on reputable research into marijuana's medical effects. Anecdotally, people with cancer, glaucoma, AIDS/HIV, Crohn's disease, hepatitis C and multiple sclerosis have found relief by using marijuana. But marijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug - with heroin, LSD and Ecstasy, among others - has hindered more study.
An obvious side benefit to that research would be more information available to Texans and their government representatives when the debate comes to our state, as it will, sooner or later.
Legal recreational marijuana
States that have voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana (by year of referendum):
2016: California, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada
2014: Alaska, Oregon
2012: Colorado, Washington
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Texans Should Take Note Of A Pivotal Election To Reform Marijuana Laws
Author: Staff
Contact: Dallas News
Photo Credit: Kelly Kissel
Website: Dallas News
