Boldest Move Against the Drug War to Date Just Came Out of Texas, from a Republican

[Suzanimal]

IMO, this is much better than legalization.



Boldest Move Against the Drug War to Date Just Came Out of Texas, from a Republican

Austin, Texas – In a bold piece of legislation, Rep. David Simpson (R) filed a bill that would delete any mention of marijuana from state law. It would completely deregulate it and treat it as any common crop.

In a press release, Simpson said he supported regulating marijuana like the state regulates “tomatoes, jalapeños or coffee.”

“Everything that God made is good, even marijuana” said state Rep. Simpson. “The conservative thought is that government doesn’t need to fix something that God made good.”

A recent poll by Pew Research has shown that 63 percent of Republicans under the age of 34 support legalization of marijuana (vs. 77 percent of Democrats of the same age.)

This information indicates that both major parties are coming around to the realization that the drug war has done significant damage to the social fabric of U.S. society, and a systemic change is necessary.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Simpson said that may of his Republican colleagues were in support of repealing prohibition and also considered the War on Drugs to be an “abysmal failure.”

Currently, the U.S. has more non-violent drug offenders incarcerated than any other country on earth. A staggering 25 percent of all people incarcerated worldwide, are being held in a U.S. jail or prison. This fact becomes even more disturbing when combined with the knowledge that the U.S. represents only 5 percent of the world population.

In a break from the approach of taxation and regulation, taken in all of the numerous other states that have reformed their marijuana laws, the Texas bill would offer no regulation or taxation.

Simpson told KETK that he would like to “reframe the current marijuana discussion” by focusing on prohibition repeal in terms of conservative values such as deregulation and less government.

The issue was hotly contested at the Texas Republican Party convention in Fort Worth. Numerous delegates supported legalization but ultimately voted to oppose legalization in the official party platform.

....

Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/tex...fCVWqQ783vU.99

[ZENemy]

yes!

[helmuth_hubener]

Yeah, this is the best yet.

This is one issue that we have the momentum on and will win. State by state the dominoes fall.

Nice to be on the winning side, for once. Took a lot of hard work and decades, but finally, as they say, "It's happening!"

[squarepusher]

Seeing as Texas is a very "open minded" capitalist state for business, it seems like they could become the nation leader for business aspect for marijuana if they actually had open a good laws.

Keep in mind, Colorado and Washing do have legal marijauna now, however the laws passed there were extremely restricting and prohibitive, so Texas could have a good opportunity about this.

[Brian4Liberty]

Nice! Finally a politician pushing the real solution for marijuana. You would probably have to make it similar to the tobacco crop though, with similar limitations.

[kcchiefs6465]

Nice! Finally a politician pushing the real solution for marijuana. You would probably have to make it similar to the tobacco crop though, with similar limitations.

You're probably limited on the number of tomatoes you can grow, too. Somebody better check the local codes.

In all seriousness, good!

This is exactly why running for office, having people run for office, and financing campaigns of liberty minded candidates running for office can be beneficial.

[osan]

I see he must have been reading my posts.

Legalization is not the solution because it maintains the state's claim to authority on the issue, which in turn means it could change at any time. What is proposed here is the correct path.

[donnay]

Finally a politician who gets it!

[Scrooge McDuck]

Go Texas Go! If the GOP could make this part of its platform then that alone would grow the party beyond belief. It will take a lot of persuasion to overcome the special interests but it seems to be happening through demographics regardless. A wonderful and encouraging thing to see. If only the silver-hairs could grasp this conservative Christian argument for decrim.

[tod evans]

Good!

Can the rest of the verboten plants and fungi be removed too?

[dannno]

What about the children?

I actually suggested to the MPP that the next California marijuana legalization bill be entitled, "The Equal Tax Marijuana Legalization Act"

Only one regulation - sales must be 18+

Only one tax - sales tax

[William Tell]

So, no elected official in another state has tried for complete repeal of prohibition yet? That actually kind of surprises me. It shouldn't though, David Simpson is a hard man to top.