Texans Will Have To Wait Years For Cannabis Reform
During the 85th legislative session in May, Texas saw two cannabis legalization bills move further forward than any other efforts made in the state’s history. Unfortunately, the session ended before these two bills could be received for a vote, causing them to essentially die. One bill would have decriminalized possession of small amounts of cannabis. The second would have established a real medical cannabis program for Texans suffering from a host of severe conditions.
The fact that these bills progressed so far, and with a majority in support of it from the Texas House of Representatives, shows just how much Texans’ perceptions of the plant are changing. However, it may be two to three years before any substantial progress is made in favor of any kind of cannabis legalization.
Advocates and activists who support legalization are now looking ahead, to the 2018 elections that will have significant impact on the 2019 legislative session. This is when they expect to be able to start championing for medical marijuana reform once more. The Houston branch of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is hard at work drafting a new version of the failed 2017 medical marijuana bill. According to Samantha Oser of NORML, their intention is to get the outspoken support of at least one local representative in 2019.
Oser feels that Senator Charles Schwertner and Representative Four Price, two high-ranking Republicans in Texxas, were instrumental in the failing of these two bills. Both of them received sizeable donations from alcohol, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. This is why Oser and others in NORML want to see a larger change, an election of progressively-minded representatives that would want to remove money from politics.
This sounds like a tall order, but Oser is confident. “As far as next session goes, we feel pretty confident that we will be able to get something done. Especially now that the donors have been exposed.”
The fact that these bills progressed so far, and with a majority in support of it from the Texas House of Representatives, shows just how much Texans’ perceptions of the plant are changing. However, it may be two to three years before any substantial progress is made in favor of any kind of cannabis legalization.
Advocates and activists who support legalization are now looking ahead, to the 2018 elections that will have significant impact on the 2019 legislative session. This is when they expect to be able to start championing for medical marijuana reform once more. The Houston branch of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is hard at work drafting a new version of the failed 2017 medical marijuana bill. According to Samantha Oser of NORML, their intention is to get the outspoken support of at least one local representative in 2019.
Oser feels that Senator Charles Schwertner and Representative Four Price, two high-ranking Republicans in Texxas, were instrumental in the failing of these two bills. Both of them received sizeable donations from alcohol, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. This is why Oser and others in NORML want to see a larger change, an election of progressively-minded representatives that would want to remove money from politics.
This sounds like a tall order, but Oser is confident. “As far as next session goes, we feel pretty confident that we will be able to get something done. Especially now that the donors have been exposed.”
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