Texas Again Inches, Oh So Slowly, Toward Legal Marijuana
Texas politicians continue their slow crawl toward doing what just about every Texan wants them to do.
A Texas legislative panel just voted unanimously to decriminalize marijuana and start a process that would wipe past marijuana convictions off peoples criminal records.
Decriminalization, mind you, doesn't necessarily take away legal penalties for possession of marijuana. It really just changes the way the law handles it.
The new bill calls for the following:
As introduced, this session’s bill would make possession of up to one ounce of marijuana or cannabis concentrates a Class C misdemeanor, removing the risk of jail time and instead imposing a maximum fine of $500. Existing law classifies possession of small amounts of cannabis as a Class B misdemeanor, which carries penalties of up to 180 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine. - marijuanamoment
So, you can still have a slight legal issue and the state will still, probably, take your money. Why Texas can't just legalize pot and take your money from you in the form of a sales tax, I still don't get.
According to marijuanamoment.net, 3 out of 4 Texans want legal marijuana and only 17% are against legalizing it. The bill that just went through still has to pass the Texas House Of Representatives so, don't get too excited.
Similar bills have made it this far before but have always been shot down.
Our neighbors in New Mexico and several other states have already legalized pot and are currently reaping the benefits of not only happier constituents but also huge tax revenues.
That could be us Texas, c'mon ... let's, (finally), do this.