Does it seem odd to anyone that a majority of Texans believe that MJ should be allowed for medical use, yet the legislation keeps dying in committee? Does it seem unfair that many other states are moving toward decriminalization/legalization, or at least talking about it? Part of the problem is that there is no voter initiative act in Texas. The only way for a law to get passed is through the state legislature, and for cannabis law, that is an impossibility. With voter initiative in place, though, there would be the chance to gather enough signatures to get a measure placed on a ballot, and maybe get it voted into law by the citizens. So please check out this website. http://www.initiativefortexas.org/actions.html While your reps may mostly ignore your letters on cannabis legalization (as mine have) they are surely more inclined to address an issue that has nothing to do with cannabis per se, such as an initiative act.
initiative act
it's depressing that an initiative could be the best way to get it done .. time-wise. But we need voter initiative rights anyway so this is very important to support.
Think of the people we elect being the problem. In reality they have to vote any law in and if they do that then it potentially becomes ammo for for the next guy running against them come re-election time. If term limits became law in Texas things would move faster as they could not be elected again and would be more open to do things that might be considered risky in a normal election cycle.
But how can we as a people tell our elected official's that running 10 times straight is too many times when they have to decide to pass a law barring themselfs from doing so? In Texas they are allowed to run as many times as they like. And this may not be the only reason it keeps dying in commitee but it's just one of the problems.
A voter initiative would be really hard as well, It would take more time and money then I'm sure even national NORML could provide. California has had alot of issues with voter initiative reform like they did with Gay marrage. It first legal then banned by voter initiative which is sad.
I agree and thanks for the website. For everyone else’s knowledge, California passed their Legal Medical Marijuana by voter initiative - which we don't have. It's an opportunity for the voters to decide what they want by bypassing the state legislation.
I think it's grass root democracy and should be in every state.
Shannon
The DudeMaster