Marijuana Is Legal In New Mexico & It Should Be Legal In Texas

On April 1, 2022, the state of New Mexico officially legalized the retail purchase of cannabis to adults 21 & over. Not even a month after the law went into affect, there have been many dispensaries opening all over the state (& yes that includes Las Cruces). And while there have been changes in Texas marijuana laws & a reduction of prosecutions of having marijuana, a bill for the legalization of marijuana in Texas was denied this month, meaning it's still illegal in Texas. So in honor of 4/20, here are 5 reasons why marijuana should be legalized in Texas as well.

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Businesses would be booming: Ever since April 1st, cannabis sales has been a money maker for the state of New Mexico & many businesses have opened up in the state. I already mentioned the dispensaries in Las Cruces but there are other New Mexico cities that have seen positive changes:

• In Clovis, former real estate agent Earl Henson and two business partners have pooled resources to convert a former gun shop and shooting range into a cannabis store. In an interview with NPR, he was quoted saying: "I can't explain how happy I am...I think these cities that are near Texas, for the next two years it is going to change their economies"
• In that same NPR article, LeRoy Roybal, the manager of Minerva Canna's downtown cannabis store said: "I think we're liberating a lot of hearts and souls...It's going to be like getting a cup of joe at Starbucks."

If small businesses in New Mexico can flourish from marijuana sales, imagines how many businesses can flourish here in El Paso.

Texas politicians support the legalization of marijuana: It's not just the average citizen that likes to get high. During his appearance at SXSW 2022, Senator Beto O'Rourke : "I’ll let you in on a secret: Republicans like to get high just as much as Democrats...When I’m governor, we’re going to legalize marijuana in the state of Texas,” he said Saturday. “(It is) a substance that is legal in most of the rest of the country, most of the rest of the free world.". And he's said this before in many campaigns...

Beto is not the only politician from Texas in favor of legalizing weed. Former governor Rick Perry stated "What I can do as the governor of the second-largest state in the nation is to implement policies that start us toward a decriminalization and keeps people from going to prison and destroying their lives, and that's what we've done over the last decade"

Other hemp/CBD products are already legal in Texas: There are some requirements to sell CHPs (consumable hemp products) but in the state of Texas, it IS legal to purchase hemp & CBD products in Texas. For a while Delta 8 WAS legal but almost by surprise, it became ILLEGAL (you can see the official Texas law on Delta-8 here). Given the fact that at point we DID make it legal, I think to avoid all the confusion, products like Delta-8 (like marijuana) should be legal. Not to mention medicinal marijuana, which IS legal in Texas. So I'm just saying... we've made some progress & steps in that direction already so let's keep going.

It over complicates matters for cities on borders of other states: For the cities that very close to the border of New Mexico; like Cauntillo, Lubbock, Amarillo & El Paso, it almost seems silly to have marijuana legal in the state that's practically right there for all of us. And it's not just New Mexico. Oklahoma & Louisiana have also passed the legalization of marijuana. So anyone who wants to get high, has to do it in the states NEXT to Texas, otherwise... you'll be busted by the Border Patrol. In fact the ACLU have called Border Patrol checkpoints "pointless" & "cruel".

Production of hemp would be beneficial for everyone: In June 2019, House Bill  1325 was signed into Texas law stating you are allowed to produce, manufacture & sell industrial hemp crops & products (but you have to apply to grow it first). But because Texas has so many different climates, & partly because of the marijuana laws in place (if the THC level is over 0.3%, it can be impounded & destroyed), producing hemp has been proven to be extremely difficult in this state. We all know that the hemp plant has many health benefits, & the fiber is also equally beneficial. So with the legalization of marijuana, there could be a side effect of possibly an increase of production of the hemp plant but more importantly finding more efficient ways TO GROW the plant through the state of Texas.

Now I know this a long shot, but hopefully one day, Texas will join its brother in New Mexico in legalizing marijuana, that way we can both truly enjoy 4/20/