Two Texas lawmakers have tried to reform the state's draconian marijuana laws for years, but their efforts have come up against a stubborn legislature that they say fears being seen as soft on crime. But now, with changing public opinion on marijuana, there may be a glimmer of hope for success.
State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston) plans to re-introduce a bill that would lower the state's penalties for people caught possessing small amounts of marijuana. It will be his fourth attempt at passing the legislation.
Right now, someone caught with even a crumb of weed in Texas can be convicted of a class B misdemeanor. The person can be sentenced to six months behind bars, even if it's a first offense.
Dutton's bill would make it so that someone caught with an ounce or less of cannabis would be charged with a class C misdemeanor, an offense comparable to a traffic ticket, Dutton explained. Under the proposed law, the offender would also have to attend a drug awareness class.
"Texas is seen as a state that is tough on crime. We've been sending people to prisons and jails for the past 20-25 years, but we haven't done much to actually eliminate drugs," he said.
Dutton will file his bill when the Texas legislature meets in January 2015. Despite the bill's failures to gain traction in the past, Dutton is optimistic for next year.
"I think the temperament of the public in Texas is changing. As a consequence, that will lead to a change in attitude among legislators," he said.
Alongside Dutton is another Texas Democrat who's pushing to ease the Lone Star State's drug code, if only by a little bit.
State Rep. Elliott Naishtat (D-Austin) wants to pass a conservative medical marijuana law that would create an affirmative defense for patients who use marijuana to ameliorate the effects of a bonafide medical condition and who are being treated by a licensed physician. The law would give a judge discretion to dismiss the marijuana possession charge against such a person or to proceed with prosecution.
"We have a very conservative legislature, totally dominated by Republicans," said Naishtat, who's tried to pass the same bill five times in the past. "I believe that but for members having the balls to stand up for what they know is right, this bill would have passed several sessions ago."
The problem, Naishtat explained, is that Texas state politicians are afraid to appear weak on crime. But times are changing. Last year, he said, two members of the committee told him they would take a deeper look at the research on medical marijuana. "There's been incremental movement on this bill [over the years], and maybe next session will be the one," he said.
Next session, Naishtat pointed out, Texas will have a new governor. The state's current leader, Rick Perry, who's been in office for 13 years, has repeatedly said he's against legalizing marijuana. But even Perry, a Republican, recently voiced support for drug courts -- which provide alternative sentencing for some low-level drug offenders -- and reiterated his support for letting states decide for themselves whether or not pot should be legal.
Cheyanne Weldon, the head of the state's National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) chapter, said she thinks the governor's recent remarks may open up a constructive dialogue among the state's politicians.
"Perry making that statement, it opened the door for conservatives to feel okay to talk about cannabis legalization. It made it into a legitimate topic of conversation for them," she said.
Before You Go
“I think that most small amounts of marijuana have been decriminalized in some places, and should be," he said back in 2000 in an interview with Rolling Stone. "We really need a re-examination of our entire policy on imprisonment.”
He's since spoken about the issue of marijuana and drug prohibition a number of times. Last year, he appeared in the documentary, "Breaking the Taboo," where he argued that the war on drugs has been a failure.
“I don't want to promote that but I also don't want to put people in jail who make a mistake," Paul said. "There are a lot of young people who do this and then later on in their twenties they grow up and get married and they quit doing things like this. I don't want to put them in jail and ruin their lives."
"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol," Robertson said in an interview with The New York Times in 2012. "I've never used marijuana and I don't intend to, but it's just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn't succeeded."
Robertson has made similar remarks on his "700 Club" show before, but the Times, like many others, perhaps felt they must have misheard him.
“[T]o me, marijuana is no different than wine," he said in an interview with High Times. "It's a drug of choice. It's meant to alter your current state -- and that's not a bad thing. It's ridiculous that marijuana is still illegal. We're still fighting for it ... It comes down to individual decision-making. There are millions of people who smoke pot on a social basis and don't become criminals. So stop with that argument -- it doesn't work.”
[H/T Marijuana Majority]
From his campaign platform:
"By managing marijuana like alcohol and tobacco - regulating, taxing and enforcing its lawful use - America will be better off. The billions saved on marijuana interdiction, along with the billions captured as legal revenue, can be redirected against the individuals committing real crimes against society."
“Marijuana should not only be legal, I think it should be a cottage industry," he said in an interview with High Times. "My wife says, and I agree with her, that what would be really great for Maine would be to legalize dope completely and set up dope stores the way that there are state-run liquor stores.”
[H/T Marijuana Majority]
While marijuana has been made legal for various uses in a number of states, the Obama administration continues to enforce federal laws across the nation. This has led to numerous raids of marijuana-based businesses, as well as prosecutions of growers and other people involved in pot.
"I think it's about time we legalize marijuana," he said. "We have to make a choice in this country. We either put people who are smoking marijuana behind bars or we legalize it, but this little game we're playing in the middle is not helping us, it is not helping Mexico and it is causing massive violence on our southern border."
"Decriminalization does not result in increased drug use. Portugal's 10 year experiment shows clearly that enough is enough. It is time to end the war on drugs worldwide. We must stop criminalising drug users. Health and treatment should be offered to drug users - not prison. Bad drugs policies affect literally hundreds of thousands of individuals and communities across the world. We need to provide medical help to those that have problematic use - not criminal retribution."
"I don't tend to say this publicly, but we can see it's a curative thing. The narcotics industry is also enormous. It funds terrorism and - this is a huge problem in America - fuels the foreign gangs," he said. "More than 85 percent of men incarcerated in America are on drug-related offences. It costs $40,000 a year for every prisoner. If they were really serious about the economy there would be a sensible discussion about legalization."
While Obama and his administration have responded to state marijuana reforms by saying they must enforce federal laws against marijuana, the president has the power to reschedule the drug, which would allow federal authorities to shift resources away from a prohibitive approach.
"However, I think we need to prioritize our law enforcement efforts," Palin said. "If somebody's gonna smoke a joint in their house and not do anybody any harm, then perhaps there are other things our cops should be looking at to engage in and try to clean up some of the other problems we have in society."While Obama has spoken repeatedly about not being interested in prosecuting small-time marijuana users, he hasn't done anything to prevent them from being busted by law enforcement in states where the drug is still illegal.
In 2012, the former president said he was fine with state legalization efforts, though he himself doesn't necessary support legalizing the drug.
“As president 35 years ago I called for decriminalizing -- but not legalizing -- the possession of marijuana,” Carter said. “Since then, U.S. drug policies have been very horrible to our own country because of an explosion in prison populations.”
"I don't have a problem with states experimenting with this sort of thing I think that's the role of states," Cuccinelli said, according to Ryan Nobles of WWBT.
“The proof will be in the policy. The war on drugs has gotten a really bad rap, when you ask people if they support the war on drugs they say no ... [Obama's] budget once again has the same old drug warrior policy ... I reject the assumption that everybody who is using drugs needs treatment or is an addict and needs to get arrested ... Not all drug use is abuse.”
He's kept up the fight for drug policy reform since.
[H/T Marijuana Majority]
“We've been fighting the war on drugs since the '60s. And guess what? Trillions of dollars later, we are losing," Sharpton said during a segment on MSNBC. "When you look at the disparities in sentencing drug offenders, hasn't this kind of injustice undermined the legitimacy of our criminal justice system?”
[H/T Marijuana Majority]
Tancredo continued, “The arguments against marijuana today are the same as the arguments against liquor years ago.”
Years later, the former congressman agreed to smoke pot on camera with a documentary filmmaker, a deal that he later backed out of.