If you’re wondering whether a true sea-change in the way America thinks about marijuana legalization, Republican Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller coming out for medical marijuana is an interesting signpost.
Miller likened regulation of medical marijuana to national prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. from 1920-1933.
“The history of cannabis prohibition reflects the failed alcohol prohibition of the 1920’s. Complete with gangs, corruption, and widespread violence against the lives and liberties of American citizens,” Miller wrote.
“As I look back, I believe that cannabis prohibition came from a place of fear, not from medical science or the analysis of social harm. Sadly, the roots of this came from a history of racism, classism, and a large central government with an authoritarian desire to control others. It is as anti-American in its origins as could be imaginable,” he continued.
Keep in mind the Miller is hardly Rand Paul on the conservative-to-libertarian spectrum, with tons of cultural conservative endorsements over the years. The fact he’s willing to talk about the issue in a year he’s up for reelection indicates that it’s far from a forbidden notion on the right.
In 2015, Texas passed the Compassionate-Use Act, which allowed for the prescription of low-THC cannabis to patients with intractable epilepsy. It was later expanded to include patients with autism, seizure disorder, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder and a number of other conditions.
Miller said he wants to make medical marijuana available to all Texans “who are suffering.”
“I worked diligently to bring hemp farming to Texas and supported the development of products such as hemp oil for medical use. These products are making a difference in the lives of many where other medicines have failed,” Miller wrote. “It is my goal next year to expand access to the compassionate use of cannabis products in Texas so that every Texan with a medical need has access to these medicines.”
Caveat: Miller isn’t for full legalization.
Despite the move by several states, including Colorado and Nevada, Miller is not in favor of recreational marijuana being legalized in Texas, writing, “Eighteen states, including conservative western states like Arizona, Montana, and Alaska, have legalized commercial cannabis sales to ALL adults. While I am not sure that Texas is ready to go that far, I have seen firsthand the value of cannabis as medicine to so many Texans.”
I’m in the “remove federal prohibition (on Tenth Amendment grounds), then let each state vote on legalizing, regulating and taxing it” camp. While I might vote for that, I suspect a small majority of Texas voters might still reject outright legalization. But I suspect actual legalization of marijuana (and not the dishonest “you want legal” dispensary scheme some states instituted) might well pass.
In any case, if the Republican Agriculture Commissioner of Texas can come out for marijuana legalization, you know it’s no longer the third rail it once was.
Tags: marijuana, Regulation, Sid Miller, Texas, War on Drugs
We Oregonians legalized MJ.
Boy, what a great result! The number of illegal grows is astronomical and the amount of weed spirited out of the state for sale in states where MJ is illegal is likewise off the charts (a billion or so in $$).
We have many illegal immigrants who grow the stuff illegally for (cough cough) . . . large foreign . . . er . . . concerns. The advantage of that is they don’t have to pay state taxes. The prospect of taxes was, of course, used as an incentive to encourage folks to support legalization.
Better yet, those grows often occur in WUI interface areas where water is at a premium because individual home owner wells depend on their wells drawing from a limited aquifer.
Now, the grows require lots of water, so some areas face lower amounts of water than they really could use or were counting when they bought their property.
But it get’s even better! The runoff from the grows frequently contains pestricides and fertilizer that seeps down to the aquifer, so whatever water there is gets polluted!
And then, there’s the skunk smell of growing MJ! If you love the smell of skunks, buy a lot next to a weed grow!
Who has it better than we do?
[…] past 6 months, 63 newborns die from lethal infections in Cuban children’s hospital BattleSwarm: Texas Republican Agriculture Commissioner Comes Out For Legalizing Medical Marijuana Behind The Black: NASA sets tentative launch date for SLS, Northrop Grumman delays next […]
I venture to predict that within a generation or two, marijuana will again be a controlled substance. Mainly due to the activities of the idiots using it regularly.
Not to mention, the physical and mental health side-effects of the crap.
I personally don’t think they should have ever done what they did with it, but they certainly shouldn’t have encouraged the perverse incentive to make it stronger and stronger, with more and more THC. I used to think marijuana wasn’t all that big a deal, but the more intimacy I have with the people using it regularly…? The less I believe in the premise that it’s harmless.
But, just like anything… In moderation, it’s fine. The sort of people who are genetically susceptible to abusing it all are the ones who take it over the line and into the realm of “actively damaging/dangerous”. Perhaps we just need to weed them out of the gene pool, in a bit of informal eugenic racial hygiene. They’ll likely take care of that, themselves.
Look at OKLA: our grid is TAXED with MJ grows, they are sucking up all the groundwater, crime has increased, no one wants to work, the Chinese moved in to buy the licenses, acres and acres of farmland ruined with grows. and the AGRICULTURE Comish in Texas thinks its a good idea????
It is destructive to agriculture and to the culture in general. DONT DO IT!!!!
Soma.
It’s not just for novels, these days…
I see far more teenagers stoned on a regular basis here in Washington and with the marijuana lobby actively suppressing any information about its harmful effects (can you say psychosis} I think it is worrisome. I’m all in favor of adults doing what they want but too many people (including parents) have forgotten the difference between adults and children.