A new University of Texas and Texas Tribune poll shows that 83 percent of Texans support legalizing marijuana for specified use, and 53 percent support legalizing marijuana for any type of use.
Communications director Jake Syma, for Hub City NORML, a local chapter for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws said these numbers speak volumes and as an organization they have two main goals for this legislative session.
“It will be interesting to see how much of this ground swell of support turns itself into a civic action,” said Syma. “What is politically possible this session are bills for medical marijuana use or decriminalization, to take any things that are currently on the books as crimes related to marijuana and to take them out of the criminal realm and onto the civil penalties.”
Sheriff Kelly Rowe with the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office said the Sheriff’s Association of Texas does not support legalization, due to the crime they see that stems from the habit.
“I look at it from the stand point of, currently 60 percent of the jail population currently sitting in the Lubbock County Jail, which is 1,200 people, are in on an addictive related offense,” said Sheriff Rowe. “Although they might not be charged with possession, manufacturing or delivery, they are in there for the burglary, the robbery or the theft they did to support the habit.”
Dr. George Comiskey with the Texas Tech Center for Study of Addiction and Recovery said it’s not fair to call marijuana a “gateway drug” because that’s not the case for every drug addict, but he does have concerns with how it would be regulated if legalized.
“The thing about it now is with California and Colorado, organizations are moving in there and creating marijuana in a whole different way,” Comiskey said. “They are going from 10 to 15 percent THC up to 30 percent and then if you’re dabbing you are getting 80 to 90 percent of THC.