Reefer Madness - Commentary

I recently had the delight of reading a very liberal post by blogger Raymund on his site What the Hell is Texas Doing? about the potential benefits of Texas adopting Marijuana as a legal substance. The post goes into great detail about the financial perks Texas stands to gain from legalizing the plant, and also addresses many of the common, misguided concerns the public has about pot. While Marijuana is a drug (there's no getting around that), the risk of abuse or addiction is significantly less than that of America's favorite past time- alcohol. So why is it illegal? I believe that the fear of a demotivated society is a poor justification of such close-minded actions, especially since we have had the living proof of Colorado that legalizing marijuana will not ruin a society. In fact, Colorado has not only seen a great reduction in the amount of substance-related crimes, but also an increase in tax revenue and a flood of new available jobs.

I truly believe that, if legalized, marijuana will have a positive affect on Texas as well, both ushering in a new era of liberal thinking to challenge the old ways, as well as giving our state a large sum of money to put towards helping people, rather than arresting them. The longer this prejudice against "reefer" continues, the more people have their lives ruined and the more our state finances get tied up in everything but what should be our government's priorities- health, education, and opportunities. The time for this change is now, and Texas is wasting precious time. Other states will soon grab at this chance of betterment and we will be left with nothing. It's unfortunate to think that the financial growth of other states will be what really changes the mind of Texans, but if money is what it takes for change, so be it.

What Century is Texas in?

After living in Texas for a majority of my life and seeing how things change, one thing about our state’s heading is clear- there will be slow change. A recent article published by the Austin American Statesman reveals the backwards processes our State still endorses- the death penalty. Despite the fact that most of the states in our country have outlawed this heinous practice of "justice", it is a very clear act of barbarianism to me. A recent botching of the procedure happened this week in Oklahoma, another state that supports the death penalty. Despite the large amount of negative attention this scandal received, putting into question why the procedure is still legal, Texas prison officials made it clear to the press that they were not looking for any alternatives, currently or for the future. 

This announcement from our state officials bothers me quite a bit, because currently our state executes more people than some countries even do, and yet we have lower crime rates than many of our states that have banned the penalty altogether. Our feudal way of thinking is going to prohibit us from making a change in the justice system, a change that would not only save taxpayers millions of dollars, but also a change in how we treat and respect life. It is a gift, not a privilege to be taken away when the state deems you criminal enough to be put down like an animal. This type of slow change is what currently defines our state, and until we begin to think more pro-actively, there will be no improvement in our government or our culture, and the rest of the world will move past us.