In Texas, possessing 2 oz. or less of marijuana can land you in jail for up to 180 days. And while most minimum possession cases don't go that far. That penalty still seems like too much for Texas people. According to a poll ran by the Texas Lyceum, seventy-four percent of Texas adults say the maximum punishment for being caught with pot should be changed from a criminal penalty to a ticket or fine. I am certainly in favor of such change. This is because marijuana does not have a single known case of overdose. And we all know, there are plenty of people smoke a lot of the green leafy substance. This contrasts greatly with alcohol, and plain pharmacy drugs which account for 16,000 American deaths. All this does not mean Marijuana is not to be taken seriously. And legalizing in Texas is a whole other subject. But, I wonder who pays for all the minimum possession prosecutions of Marijuana in Texas? Well, that would be the labor force of Texas, me included AKA the taxpayers. When other issues arise regarding cuts on very particular or specific areas of Texas government spending, they just overlook this particular subject, for now at least.
On November 30, Mr. Alex S. Ortiz wrote a blog regarding the decriminalization of marijuana in the state of Texas. Mr. Ortiz first talks about how people who are caught with less than 2 oz of marijuana can be sent to jail for 180 days and how he and many others among the community in Texas believe that this is a far bigger punishment than one deserves for carrying minimum possessions. Mr. Ortiz then talks about how a significant percentage of people in Texas believe that a ticket or a fine is sufficient enough for charging minimal possession and that it should count as a felony. I agree with Mr. Ortiz's statement regarding decriminalization because as far as I know, marijuana has never hurt anyone. It could simply just be a way of living for stoners, just as some people have a beer or a glass of wine at the end of the day as a release after a hard day of work.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ortiz also mentions that alcohol and prescription drugs lead to more deaths than marijuana, which is definitely a fact. There has never been a recorded case of death from marijuana by overdose, but there are other drugs that lead to thousands of deaths annually that are still sold legally. To Mr. Ortiz and for me as well, this doesn't make any sense. In fact, almost half a million die in the United States every year from smoking cigarette, yet we don't ban cigarettes because of smokers claiming that it is a freedom of choice whether or not one fills their lungs with poison. If that is the case for cancer sticks, why can't this principle apply to the seemingly harmless marijuana?
Mr. Ortiz then talks about how much the state is spending money on prosecuting these "criminals" which are paid by the tax payers. This means that decriminalizing marijuana can save everyone's money by decreasing the amount of unnecessary prosecutions that place harmless pot smokers into jail. I agree with Mr. Ortiz regarding this also because many marijuana smokers include younger people who have a whole life ahead of them. If one was to get arrested and prosecuted for a small possession of marijuana, this criminal record will haunt them for life. Of course, you can easily say that it was their responsibility and that it was their own fault for getting caught or whatever, but why make people's life more miserable instead of trying to catch actual criminals that can do real harm to the society and the people around them? Why do cops waste their time on putting people who are simply making their own choices behind bars instead of spending more time catching real criminals like they're supposed to?
Overall, I agree with everything that Mr. Ortiz has mentioned. As Mr. Ortiz mentioned himself, legalizing marijuana might be a completely different story, but decriminalizing marijuana in Texas is something that should be very possible and the justice force should see the drug as it really is.
In Imperium Primum Officium II's latest blog entitled "What's the Big Deal?", the author argues in favor of lowering the punishment for marijuana offenders. Like many people under 60, I also agree. I myself am not a marijuana consumer but, I know plenty of people who are. Not one of them have ever hospitalized due to their marijuana use. Much like the prohibition days, the war on drugs is not going so well for our law enforcement agencies. While I agree with the author, I would say it's time to take it a step further than just lowering the punishment. Texas, and the United States, should legalize it and generate taxes from the sales. The laws and punishments should be no different than that of alcohol.
ReplyDelete