Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in 22 states with more to follow, marijuana legalization appears inevitable — even in “law and order” states such as Texas. The question is no longer if Texas will legalize, but when? This question has important policy implications for incarceration costs, civil liberties and medical marijuana patients. In this Baker Institute Viewpoints series, five leading experts on marijuana reform examine the question, “When will Texas legalize marijuana?”
Read other posts in this series:
- Texas will legalize marijuana in 2019, by Rob Kampia, co-founder and executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project
- Texas will legalize medical marijuana in 2015 and regulate marijuana similarly to alcohol in 2017, by Steve Nolin, executive director of the Houston chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
- Marijuana won’t be legal in Texas anytime soon, by Mark Jones, Baker Institute fellow in political science
- Texas voters will push for marijuana legalization by 2019, by Zoe Russell, assistant executive director of Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition
Polls show a majority of Texans support major changes in drug policy, including full legalization of marijuana, and there is even higher support for decriminalization and for medical use in particular. Demographers know these changes are just a matter of time. But how much time?
In 1972, the National Commission on Marihuana (sic) and Drug Abuse proposed immediate decriminalization. Support for legalization was only about 12 percent at that point.
Prohibition continually failed to reduce the availability of marijuana for the next 40 years. No rational system could do worse. Over 100 million tried marijuana, and familiarity began to change attitudes.
In 1982, the National Academy of Sciences urged the country to reconsider marijuana prohibition. They emphasized that the illegal market for marijuana would disappear like alcohol and American youth would benefit from the removal of teen drug dealers and the risks of using unregulated drugs. They urged federal support for voluntary state experiments.
After 30 years, that change has finally begun in two states and will soon spread to more. If federal interference ends, the timetable will accelerate. Delay will only increase the financial and human costs of prohibition, but there is good reason to fear that Texas will be slow to act. Because one well-placed official — such as the governor, lieutenant governor or even the chair of the Calendars Committee — has the power to derail legislation, even proposals with majority support may never come to a vote.
For example, numerous federal studies unanimously concluded that programs that provided clean needles to addicts saved money and lives and did not increase drug use. The Texas Medical Association, local public health authorities and editorial boards all endorsed these programs. Yet over a decade later, despite repeated attempts, Texas remains the only state that doesn’t allow any legal form of a needle exchange program. Death and disease that could have been avoided with such a program continue to occur. Neither science nor state respect for our local public health authorities fared well.
Even overwhelming public support has failed. State Rep. Elliott Naishtat will make a seventh attempt this next legislative session to pass a medical marijuana bill. Thus far, a medical marijuana bill has never even made it out of committee to the House floor for a vote.
Nonetheless, there is a distinct possibility that change is in the air. Financial considerations have slowed prison growth, and some states are showing revenue growth beyond expectations from taxes on marijuana. Gov. Rick Perry and many conservative groups have changed the tone of their rhetoric and shown some openness to decriminalization. The tea party has a contingent of libertarians who strongly oppose marijuana prohibition and want to establish greater rights for the states. Those who emphasize support for American troops may be moved by the stories of Texas veterans suffering from chronic pain or PTSD who find that marijuana provides relief from their symptoms. Furthermore, the current federal farm bill allows research into the growth of hemp (the inert, industrial cousin to psychoactive cannabis), which would be a financial boon to farmers in West Texas.
The potential for a powerful coalition of interests exists if the proper organizational talent and money emerge. But the public must do more than simply agree.
One unknown is whether fears of negative consequences of legalization can be allayed if the public discussion shifts to the key dynamic between alcohol and marijuana. The vast majority of adult users of both alcohol and marijuana are responsible users and pose no threat to themselves or others. But this is true of a far greater percentage of marijuana users. Virtually no adult has used marijuana unless they have used alcohol, and less than 1 percent of the population has a problem with marijuana unless they also have or had a concurrent problem with alcohol. This tiny fragment of marijuana problems peaks around age 20, about two years prior to the peak for alcohol problems.
In short, any increase in adult marijuana use is likely to be responsible use and probably will reduce alcohol problems. The National Institutes of Health found that heavy use of alcohol causes significantly greater brain damage and is far more likely to provoke violent and uncontrolled behavior than marijuana.
The science regarding marijuana has been clear for decades, and the public has caught up with many of the facts. But the willingness of our representatives to respond remains in question.
The 1982 National Academy of Sciences report said that doing nothing was also a choice, a risk greater than change. Indeed, the failure to heed their advice has caused massive damage.
I anticipate some incremental progress during 2015 and 2017, and full legalization around 2021 or 2023. I deeply hope my pessimism proves to be unwarranted.
Jerry Epstein is co-founder and president of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas. He has previously served as a U.S. Marines Corps officer, businessman and writer. His writing about drug policy has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Nation magazine and many Texas publications. Epstein received his B.A. in history from Rice University and his M.A. in sociology from the University of Houston.