Pubdate: Wed, 08 Apr 2015
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2015 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspaper
Contact:  http://www.chron.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/198

GRASS MENAGERIE

Proposed Changes to Marijuana Laws Deserve Serious Consideration in 
the Legislature.

Suds-loving Americans raised their glasses Tuesday in celebration of 
National Beer Day, which commemorated the 82nd anniversary of the 
re-legalization of beer at the end of Prohibition. While breweries 
and their fans may focus on the tastier aspects of the day, it is 
also a holiday for supporters of good government. After all, it marks 
that rare moment when elected officials admitted to a mistake in law 
and undid a poorly considered policy.

It is a lesson in history that members of the Texas House Criminal 
Jurisprudence Committee should keep in mind during this morning's 
hearing on proposed changes to state marijuana laws ("Pot laws under 
review this week," Page B1, Monday).

Like alcohol prohibition more than eight decades ago, Texans have 
come to learn that many of our marijuana policies inflict more harm 
than the drug itself. This is true for both users and law-abiding 
citizens alike. All taxpayers shoulder the high price of criminalized 
marijuana, literally. During the 2014 election, Democratic candidate 
for Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg estimated that Harris 
County spent $4.4 million every year arresting and prosecuting people 
for mere possession.

Statistics show that the black community bears an outsized burden of 
these marijuana arrests, despite similar drug use rates among blacks 
and whites. As Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland pointed out in 
an interview on KPFT 90.1 last year, a criminal record, even just for 
marijuana, can make it difficult for young men to get jobs and become 
productive members of society. That hurts everyone. And despite four 
decades of the war on drugs, marijuana use has actually gone up, 
according to Gallup. Our laws simply aren't working.

With these issues in mind, state representatives have proposed four 
timely bills that would start the process of fixing our broken drug policy.

State Reps. Gene Wu and Harold Dutton, both Houston-area Democrats, 
have sponsored House Bills 325 and 414, respectively. These would 
reduce low-level possession of marijuana to a class C misdemeanor, 
treating it like public intoxication. This comes with up to a $500 fine.

State Rep. Joe Moody's HB 507 would treat possession of less than an 
ounce of marijuana as a civil infraction, much like a traffic ticket. 
The El Paso Democrat's bill also has a companion in the Senate, 
authored by Houston Democratic state Sen. Rodney Ellis.

Any of these three bills would be a step in the right direction. 
However, a bill proposed by state Rep. David Simpson, R-Longview, to 
remove all marijuana regulation simply goes too far. Simpson has said 
that Texas should treat marijuana like tomatoes. Last we checked, 
tomatoes aren't a drug. No matter how delicious those sweet heirlooms 
may be, they don't have a detrimental impact on teenagers' developing 
brains or pose potential risks to personal health.

The purpose of well-written drug policy should be harm reduction, and 
neither Simpson's proposal nor our current laws effectively aim at this goal.

Folks across the state agree it is time for a change. A 2014 
University of Texas/ Texas Tribune Poll found that only 23 percent of 
Texans thought that marijuana should be illegal in all circumstances.

If Texas really wants to reduce marijuana use, we should be looking 
at cigarettes. Tobacco use currently sits at historic lows. The 2012 
annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that less than 7 
percent of teenagers ages 12-17 regularly smoked cigarettes, down 
from 13 percent in 2002. This is despite the fact that they're 
legally available for adults all across the nation.

Anti-tobacco advocates are doing something right - no jail necessary. 
It is time to leave behind prohibition and study the solutions that 
actually work.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom