Texans have been left behind as state after state legalized marijuana. And the lack of legalization is not due to lack of support in the state for the right to use the plant. Back in 2018, a Quinnipiac University poll found over 60 percent support among Texans for adults to legally possess marijuana for personal use.
A catch to that support, as noted in a CBS Austin report, was that the poll indicated that only 43 percent of Republicans in Texas supported legalization, while 51 percent opposed it. That meant that, while legalization among Texans overall was popular, there seemed little political risk for Republican politicians in the state with a long time Republican governor and Republican majorities in the state House of Representatives and Senate to refuse to move forward on the matter.
That situation changed last week when the midterm election results shifted the governorship and control of the Texas House to Democrats. Jamil David reported Tuesday at the Houston Chronicle regarding Democrats in the Texas House and Senate introducing marijuana legalization bills that suddenly appear to have a good chance of becoming law.
Discussing the bills, David noted they include restrictions similar to those commonly included in legalization in other states, such as limits on how much marijuana a person may possess, how many plants a person may grow, special regulations for marijuana vendors, and special taxes imposed on marijuana sales beyond the regular sales tax.
Rather restrictive legalization would be a step toward greater respect for freedom in Texas. Still, Texas Democrats would do well to consider taking more radical action. They could revive a bill sponsored over ten years ago by David Simpson — one of their former Republican colleagues. Simpson’s bill, which was approved in 2015 by the House’s Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, would make marijuana unregulated and untaxed for adults in Texas, a level of marijuana freedom unknown in the rest of America.
