According to a new Texas Tribune poll, 49% of Texas voters support legalizing possession of marijuana in small, personal use amounts, while 77% support legalizing it for medical purposes. (See question 46 of the poll here.)
Regrettably, the Tribune did not poll the proposal that's been most frequently bandied around at the Legislature - keeping marijuana illegal but reducing criminal penalties for low-level possession from a Class B misdemeanor to a Class C. Such bills passed out of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in 2005 and 2013 but never received a floor vote. Even so, if 49% of Texans support outright legalization, one imagines even more would support keeping pot illegal but reducing the punishment.
The suggestion to reduce penalties also has practical, economic arguments in its favor. Class B misdemeanors carry with them the possibility of jail time, meaning counties must pay for both pretrial incarceration costs at the jail and attorneys for indigent defendants. By contrast, Class C misdemeanors are typically handled with a ticket and involve no jail time (except for "failure to appear," the same as if you don't pay a traffic ticket). Thus, not only would counties not incur costs for jail and lawyers for the indigent, both cities and counties would get a new revenue stream from Class C tickets paid.
Both times the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee recommended lowering penalties for low-level marijuana possession, the measure appeared to have enough votes on the floor to pass in the lower chamber. But House leadership, presumably hoping to "protect" members from themselves, wouldn't allow the bills to reach the House floor. Perhaps changing public opinion will allow a different result next session. Not only would it be good public policy - saving money for counties and freeing up police to focus on more serious crimes - but the measure appears to reflect the current zeitgeist among voters, judging from this and other recent opinion polls.
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13 comments:
Not this session, but the next will see a legalization bill filed. The state can't resist the money and people are sick of the drug war.
I think it's possible, perhaps even likely, that a legalization bill will be "filed" in 2015. But I also think a bill reducing penalties could actually PASS.
Police have had the option of issuing a summons for small amounts of pot for years. Some departments do while others prefer to make a big deal of it and make arrests.
BTW, President Obama is likely to receive yet another Noble Peace Prize, this time for ending the war on drugs: http://www.komonews.com/news/national/US-drug-policy-fuels-push-for-legal-pot-worldwide-245679331.html
Texas is Red now but, it will go blue if marijuana is not legalized before 2015!
You might want to note that the survey was taken at "UT" and "TT" according to the Tribune. Assuming the data comes from college campuses, the high percentages are less surprising than your story indicates.
While reducing POM 0-2 to a class C misdemeanor would probably be a good policy, it would have one unintended consequence: some adult probation departments would have to reduce staff. Approximately one third of the misdemeanor probations involve POM 0-2; unfortunately, the officers who supervise them are likely supervising felony probation cases, too. So you will have less money appropriated by the state for misdemeanor placements, as well as less money coming in from payment of probation fees. So, some officers will have to be RIFed, and those remaining will supervise larger caseloads. This is not a reason NOT to make the change, but it will have consequences. The probation haters out there will rejoice, but the thought of caseloads edging above 150 won't help attract good folks to the field.
GET REAL TEXAS GET LEGAL!
Well, I think it would be a no brainer if put to the citizens tomorrow, POM would be legal and you could grow your own at home
Just move to Colorado. Then Colorado can pay for all the dysfunctional potheads to sit at home smoking pot all day.
There are way to many government employees now, cut'm. We are going to make sure marijuana is legalized. The SC judge Garcia from San Antonio found that same sex marriage is unconstitutional so, so is not legalizing marijuana when alcohol and tobacco are legal!
Legalizing pot won't reduce the problems associated with pot. Everything is rhetoric. Watch Colorado. I believe things won't be so well in that State as the era of legalization unfolds.
HIDE & WATCH!
Awesome, I will finally be living the American dream:
*Never have to work (except for cash occasionally)
*Get my HUD housing
*Draw my welfare (eat steak shrimp every meal)
*Get my insurance
*Shag every pot smoking girlfriend via irresponsible sex creating another generation of fatherless children to live like just like me while increasing my welfare check at the same time.
YES, legalize pot it is the panacea
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