So, will Texas ever see improvement in some of the most draconian marijuana statutes in the nation?
Scott Greenberger, who runs the 'Stateline' newsletter for the Pew Charitable Trusts, tells News Radio 1200 WOAI chances are good that movement will happen in the state, it will jsut take more time.
Eight states and Washington DC have legalized recreational use of marijuana since Colorado became the first in 2014. In 29 states and DC, marijuana is legal in varying degrees for medical purposes.
But in Texas, a wide variety of proposals, from expanding the 'compassionate use' of cannabis oil, which is the only thing close to marijuana legalization which exists in Texas, to full recreational use, were defeated in 2017.
Greenberger says you have to take your victories where you can.
"Bills that would do things such as reducing the penalties for low level possession to a civil violation, that bill made it out of committee," he said.
Greenberger says progress in marijuana law evolution is happening at the local level. He points out that the Sheriff and District Attorney in Bexar County, for example, are 'going around the Legislature' and agreeing among themselves on a policy which is expected to be announced later this year to downgrade the simple possession of a small amount of marijuana, in certain cases, to a 'cite and release' program where the person would have to appear in court, but would not face arrest or having a criminal charge on the person's record.
"Those were the sort of changes that were made in other states that later moved on to legalization, I'm talking about California in particular," he said.
This year, Greenberger points out, law enforcement groups dropped what had been their strong opposition to any sort of legalization, with several police officers and prosecutors testifying in favor of decriminalization. He also points out that veterans groups made strong cases in favor of medical marijuana, and in a state like Texas, veterans groups are very influential. He also cites the fact that Arkansas approved the use of medical marijuana just last fall.
Greenberger says when Texans are asked about marijuana in public opinion surveys, a strong majority supports medical use, and a growing minority approves of straight recreational legalization, generally citing the expense to taxpayers and the waste of time for police to pursue and arrest otherwise law abiding people for possession of small amounts of weed for personal use.
He also cites the fact that in the eight states which have legalized marijuana, there are no indications of any serious problems developing. In fact, Colorado recently reported having collected a half billion dollars in taxes from recreational marijuana sales since 2014.
He says changes come quickly, when they do come."If twenty years ago you had said that twenty years from now eight states will have legalized recreational marijuana, that would have been hard to imagine," he said.