Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Austin - Lawmakers gave only token approval to marijuana reform last year, allowing limited use of cannabis oil for patients with seizures.
Advocates have now returned to the Capitol urging the Legislature to take additional steps of decriminalizing pot and allowing broader use of medical marijuana.
Heather Fazio, Texas political director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said the compassionate use law passed during the last session was "unreasonably restrictive" but signaled that that cannabis laws can change.
"The question is, how far do we want to go with that compassion?" said Fazio, who was among about 200 marijuana advocates who visited the Capitol to lobby legislators on Wednesday. "Our focus is also on recalibrating penalties."
Ingrid Ebbers, 34, an Army veteran from Fort Worth, said her experience shows the need to decriminalize pot use and expand medical use.
Ebbers was prescribed drugs by military and Veterans Affairs physicians for back pain, anxiety and depression. She prefers marijuana, she said, which also mitigates the nausea that comes with migraines.
[Marijuana possession and sales are illegal in Texas, and can result in fines and prison terms. ]
"I am tired of taking the prescription drugs the VA wants to shove down my throat," said Ebbers, who is the constituent coordinator for Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy. "I can take two puffs and go to school."
A University of North Texas graduate student, Ebbers has a 4.0 grade point average, and said marijuana does no harm.
"I use it as a medicine," she said.
Outside the office of Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, a delegation from the Dallas - Fort Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws waited to talk with a staff member.
Burton is a member of the health and human services and criminal justice committees, both important to the success of decriminalization and medical marijuana bills.
The four-person lobbying team came packing stats. A Texas Lyceum poll in 2015 showed three-quarters of voters support reduced penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
In 2012, 98 percent of pot-related arrests and citations were for possession.
The cost per arrest is $10,000, they said, while the state spends $8,500 per child on public education.
Eric Espinoza, 33, a member of the group, said he has a more personal acquaintance with Texas' marijuana policy.
An Arlington resident, Espinoza has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He also used OxyContin - an opioid that was prescribed for his chronic pain and spasms.
"It cost me a year of my life," he said. "It left me unable to function at the level I was accustomed to."
Then he took a trip to Colorado, where legalized marijuana is available in retail stores. "I found a level of comfort I was not used to," he said.
Though Espinoza said he didn't bring any back home with him, the trip gave him a taste of what's possible.
Although a new administration in Washington could toughen enforcement of drug laws -- marijuana is still an illegal, Schedule I substance under federal law -- lawmakers here can liberalize some measures with confidence that they won't be overridden, said Justin Strekal, political director for NORML.
"Right now the federal government is not allowed to spend a dime to enforce federal marijuana prohibitions as it pertains to medical marijuana in the states that have a medical marijuana system," he said.
That's due to a 2014 measure subject to annual renewal that Strekal said should be reauthorized for the next fiscal year.
Strekal said he's also confident that federal officials won't interfere with states where marijuana is decriminalized.
He noted a recent case in El Paso that highlighted how courts here have evolved in dealing with at least some marijuana cases.
The case involved a teacher who stood to lose her license when she acknowledged eating a marijuana product during Christmas break, the New York Times reported.
A judge reasoned that her action was legal in Colorado [ where she ate the product ] - even if not in Texas - and recommended against taking her teaching certificate.
Espinoza said he hopes to help lawmakers understand how loosening the marijuana could affect people like him.
"There are thousands of other Texans who need help," he said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana Advocates Start Another Round At Capitol
Author: John Austin
Contact: (903) 586-2236
Photo Credit: Alessandro Bianchi
Website: Jacksonville Progress
Advocates have now returned to the Capitol urging the Legislature to take additional steps of decriminalizing pot and allowing broader use of medical marijuana.
Heather Fazio, Texas political director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said the compassionate use law passed during the last session was "unreasonably restrictive" but signaled that that cannabis laws can change.
"The question is, how far do we want to go with that compassion?" said Fazio, who was among about 200 marijuana advocates who visited the Capitol to lobby legislators on Wednesday. "Our focus is also on recalibrating penalties."
Ingrid Ebbers, 34, an Army veteran from Fort Worth, said her experience shows the need to decriminalize pot use and expand medical use.
Ebbers was prescribed drugs by military and Veterans Affairs physicians for back pain, anxiety and depression. She prefers marijuana, she said, which also mitigates the nausea that comes with migraines.
[Marijuana possession and sales are illegal in Texas, and can result in fines and prison terms. ]
"I am tired of taking the prescription drugs the VA wants to shove down my throat," said Ebbers, who is the constituent coordinator for Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy. "I can take two puffs and go to school."
A University of North Texas graduate student, Ebbers has a 4.0 grade point average, and said marijuana does no harm.
"I use it as a medicine," she said.
Outside the office of Sen. Konni Burton, R-Colleyville, a delegation from the Dallas - Fort Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws waited to talk with a staff member.
Burton is a member of the health and human services and criminal justice committees, both important to the success of decriminalization and medical marijuana bills.
The four-person lobbying team came packing stats. A Texas Lyceum poll in 2015 showed three-quarters of voters support reduced penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
In 2012, 98 percent of pot-related arrests and citations were for possession.
The cost per arrest is $10,000, they said, while the state spends $8,500 per child on public education.
Eric Espinoza, 33, a member of the group, said he has a more personal acquaintance with Texas' marijuana policy.
An Arlington resident, Espinoza has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. He also used OxyContin - an opioid that was prescribed for his chronic pain and spasms.
"It cost me a year of my life," he said. "It left me unable to function at the level I was accustomed to."
Then he took a trip to Colorado, where legalized marijuana is available in retail stores. "I found a level of comfort I was not used to," he said.
Though Espinoza said he didn't bring any back home with him, the trip gave him a taste of what's possible.
Although a new administration in Washington could toughen enforcement of drug laws -- marijuana is still an illegal, Schedule I substance under federal law -- lawmakers here can liberalize some measures with confidence that they won't be overridden, said Justin Strekal, political director for NORML.
"Right now the federal government is not allowed to spend a dime to enforce federal marijuana prohibitions as it pertains to medical marijuana in the states that have a medical marijuana system," he said.
That's due to a 2014 measure subject to annual renewal that Strekal said should be reauthorized for the next fiscal year.
Strekal said he's also confident that federal officials won't interfere with states where marijuana is decriminalized.
He noted a recent case in El Paso that highlighted how courts here have evolved in dealing with at least some marijuana cases.
The case involved a teacher who stood to lose her license when she acknowledged eating a marijuana product during Christmas break, the New York Times reported.
A judge reasoned that her action was legal in Colorado [ where she ate the product ] - even if not in Texas - and recommended against taking her teaching certificate.
Espinoza said he hopes to help lawmakers understand how loosening the marijuana could affect people like him.
"There are thousands of other Texans who need help," he said.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Marijuana Advocates Start Another Round At Capitol
Author: John Austin
Contact: (903) 586-2236
Photo Credit: Alessandro Bianchi
Website: Jacksonville Progress