Texas and Marijuana

Many Democrats have introduced bills in 2017 that would legalize medical marijuana in Texas and decriminalize small possessions of it, but these lawmakers admit that it's unlikely the bills will be adopted because of our mostly conservative legislature. However, some of the bills have gained some bipartisan support such as HB 81, "the bill to decriminalize low-volume possession," which is supported by Republican Jason Isaac of the Texas House of Representatives. Therefore, the introduction of these marijuana bills to our state legislature is a good strategie from the Democrats because it gives our legilators the opportunity to have serious discussions about the potential benifits that can come from legalizing marijuana in Texas.

In 2017, the Texas government has a very limited amount of money because of things such as tax cuts from the past. According to "a cannabis market research firm," the states that have legalized marijuana in some form have made a 8 billion dollar profit from the plant, and that number is currently growing. Legalization of marijuana could be beneficial to Texas' budget problem by taxing the product and getting it out of the black market.

Another problem that legalization of marijuana could help fix is the issue of criminal reform in Texas. Right now if a Texan gets caught with a small possession of marijuana they have to go to court, pay a fine, and possibly do time in jail. This can cause ones record to be negatively affected and even prevent them from getting certain jobs in the future. Leagalization or decriminalization of this plant can prevent Texans from dealing with the burden of a bad record and even waste of time.

Lastly, marijuana has proven to be beneficial for many medical purposes. For example, many studies have found that marijuana can prevent the spreading of cancer cells, so if this plant can help prevent diseases then Texas should follow the example of other states that approve of medical marijuana. If Texas Republicans keep on failing to acknowledge the benifits of medical marijuana they fail to provide Texans with a complete list of options that they can choose from to improve their health.

(Other ways to access article: Austin American Statesman, "Texas lawmakers wighing flurry of marijuana-related bills,"

http://www.mystatesman.com/business/texas-lawmakers-weighing-flurry-marijuana-related-bills/TLd7JNkw5lXz9nRTFQ8XCO)

Texas Democrats need more progressive candidates.

          In the Texas Legislature, Democrats and Republicans constantly compete for seats in the senate and house of representatives. However, in her article "It's Time To Primary DINOS," Andrea Greer claims Democrats haven't been able to present a real challenge to the Republicans in modern history, and have only been able to maintain the seats that they currently have. Greer claims that the main cause of this is due to the failure of Texas Democrats, such as Texas Senator Eddie Lucio Jr, to promote real progressive ideas and because of their support for very conservative legislation; consequently, many Democratic Texans avoid showing up at the polls because they don’t trust the government. Therefore, I agree that the Texas Democratic Party should promote more progressive candidates in order to politically engage communities that have historically and culturally felt omitted by the government and so that their voices can actually be represented in our state legislature.
          Andrea Greer uses the fact that Democrat Eddie Lucio Jr has voted for restroom restrictions for transgender people and voted against bills that would make it easier for women to get abortions as evidence that some Texas Democrats are too closely related to their conservative counterparts. These type of Democrats only make it harder for progressive Democrats and their ideas to succeed in our legislation. Furthermore, this causes people that have historically voted in low numbers, such as minority groups, to distrust government even further and to become confused about what party to identify with. For example, if an individual who finds politics irrelevant comes to find out that certain party members aren’t even loyal to their party's platform, his or her interest in politics will only decline because they’ll feel that they can’t trust politicians.
          Greer suggests that the Democratic party should promote sincerely progressive Democrats in order to engage communities, whose “disgust in the system is growing,” in politics and government in order to for their party to possess a greater challenge to the Republicans. If Democrats were able to reach out to communities such as minority groups and transgender people, and prove that they truly represent their interest and not the interest of the Republicans than more of these communities are likely to show up at the polls which could provide the Texas Democratic Party with more power.

(Other ways to access article: Burnt Orange Report, Andrea Greer, "It's Time To Primary DINOS," http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/32530/time-primary-dinos )