The biggest thing you can do, if you want our cannabis laws in Texas reformed, is get involved. Texas doesn’t have voter/ballot initiative or referendum, and since we don’t have a voice in that sense, we must take our voice to the polls.
Texas had over 50 bills filed during the 2019 Legislative Session that pertained to cannabis. The one that looks like it will be the most victorious is House Bill 1325, the Texas Hemp Bill. Voted Unanimously out of both chambers, the bill has passed out of its conference committee and is now heading to the Governor’s desk. Keeping hemp production illegal in Texas is not only bad law, it is bad business. That will soon change.
Other bills such as House Bill 63 (Moody) and House Bill 1365 (Lucio III) didn’t fare so well, and then you have a bill like House Bill 3703 (Klick) – which seemed pretty favored by certain elected officials. Mainly, those in the higher positions of power.
Let’s look at HB 63 and HB 1365, which out of all the bills filed, were the more favored by those fighting to change the laws. Neither were perfect, by any means, but they were what Texas needs so desperately to find relief from such draconian laws.
House Bill 63, which when originally filed in the 86th Legislature would have made possession of up to 1 ounce, a civil penalty with a fine of $250. That’s it. No criminal record, no collateral consequences for possessing the beloved plant… nothing. $250 and it’s over. That could happen 3 times and then the offense would go back to being misdemeanor. That in itself is ridiculous when you think about over half the United States population having access to legal recreation and/or medical cannabis but, it’s a start – and would have been a great one for Texas, had it passed.
Although HB 63 was the best outcome Texans could have had when it came to penalty reduction, the bill was ultimately amended to fit King, I mean Governor, Greg Abbott’s liking. It was amended to be something other than what the people of Texas want and support, not what the Texas GOP Platform Plank 107 says (their platform even goes as far as to say a $100 fine, rather that $250), and not what is right and sensible…. but, it amended to what Gov. Abbott called for. That’s absurd. Read that paragraph again.
In an attempt to bring relief from the initial arrest for and the collateral consequences associated with being caught with cannabis, Representative Moody worked with Gov. Abbott’s office on an amendment that would suit the Governor’s preference for reducing the penalty, thinking that would be a shoe-in in getting it passed, since it was basically semi-approved by the Governor. Rep. Moody’s reasoning behind it is very valiant, in which he stated:
“While decriminalization is my preferred approach, I’m not willing to sacrifice a desperately needed policy shift for absolutism. Texans facing these charges and taxpayers footing the bill for it need relief now.”
House Bill 63 with Amendment Passed the House with a super majority of 103 – 42. Below, you see the official tally of who voted for and against. The names in bold, these are the representatives that we need to hold accountable for not voting 1. with their party platform; and 2. in support of their constituents that they represent.
Yeas — Allen; Anchia; Bailes; Beckley; Bernal; Biedermann; Blanco;
Bowers; Bucy; Button; Cain; Calanni; Canales; Clardy; Cole; Coleman; Collier;
Cortez; Cyrier; Darby; Davis, Y.; Deshotel; Dominguez; Dutton; Farrar; Fierro;
Frank; Geren; Gervin-Hawkins; Goldman; Gonza´lez, J.; Gonza´lez, M.; Goodwin;
Guerra; Guillen; Gutierrez; Hernandez; Herrero; Hinojosa; Howard; Huberty;
Hunter; Israel; Johnson, E.; Johnson, J.D.; Johnson, J.E.; King, T.; Krause;
Lambert; Landgraf; Larson; Leach; Longoria; Lopez; Lozano; Lucio; Martinez;
Martinez Fischer; Meyer; Meza; Miller; Minjarez; Moody; Morales; Morrison;
Mun˜oz; Murphy; Neave; Neva´rez; Ortega; Pacheco; Parker; Patterson; Perez;
Phelan; Ramos; Raney; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodriguez; Romero; Rose;
Rosenthal; Schaefer; Sheffield; Sherman; Stephenson; Stickland; Talarico;
Thierry; Thompson, S.; Tinderholt; Toth; Turner, C.; Turner, J.; Vo; White;
Wilson; Wray; Wu; Zedler; Zerwas; Zwiener.
Nays — Allison; Anderson; Ashby; Bell, C.; Bell, K.; Bohac; Bonnen;
Buckley; Burns; Burrows; Capriglione; Craddick; Dean; Flynn; Frullo; Harless;
Harris; Hefner; Holland; Kacal; King, K.; King, P.; Kuempel; Lang; Leman;
Metcalf; Middleton; Murr; Noble; Oliverson; Paddie; Paul; Price; Shaheen;
Shine; Smith; Smithee; Springer; Stucky; Swanson; Thompson, E.; VanDeaver.
House Bill 63 was passed by the House as amended but stalled in the Senate as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick did not refer it to its respective committee. This session, the Texas House had to mark where they stood on the issue. We need to organize against the names above in bold. It is imperative. They need to be educated, get in with their party platform and support Texans – or be voted out. It is goes without saying that Lt. Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott are two main forces that need to be removed as well. Definitely Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, as he blocked House Bill 63 from advancing, something clearly against his party platform.
House Bill 1365 seemed to suffer the same fate as it was passed by the House, also with a super majority, 128 – 20. This is how the representatives voted:
Yeas — Allen; Allison; Anchia; Anderson; Ashby; Bailes; Beckley; Bell,
K.; Bernal; Biedermann; Blanco; Bohac; Bonnen; Bowers; Buckley; Bucy;
Burns; Button; Calanni; Canales; Clardy; Cole; Coleman; Collier; Cortez; Cyrier;
Darby; Davis, S.; Davis, Y.; Dean; Deshotel; Dominguez; Dutton; Farrar; Fierro;
Frank; Frullo; Geren; Gervin-Hawkins; Goldman(C); Gonza´lez, J.; Gonza´lez, M.;
Goodwin; Guerra; Guillen; Gutierrez; Harless; Hernandez; Herrero; Hinojosa;
Holland; Howard; Huberty; Hunter; Israel; Johnson, J.D.; Johnson, J.E.; Kacal;
King, K.; King, P.; King, T.; Krause; Kuempel; Lambert; Landgraf; Lang;
Larson; Leach; Longoria; Lopez; Lozano; Lucio; Martinez; Martinez Fischer;
Meyer; Meza; Middleton; Miller; Minjarez; Moody; Morales; Morrison; Mun˜oz;
Murphy; Neave; Neva´rez; Oliverson; Ortega; Pacheco; Parker; Patterson; Perez;
Phelan; Price; Ramos; Raney; Raymond; Reynolds; Rodriguez; Romero; Rose;
Rosenthal; Sanford; Schaefer; Sheffield; Sherman; Shine; Stephenson; Stickland;
Stucky; Swanson; Talarico; Thierry; Thompson, S.; Tinderholt; Toth; Turner, C.;
Turner, J.; VanDeaver; Vo; Walle; White; Wilson; Wray; Wu; Zedler; Zerwas;
Zwiener.
Nays — Bell, C.; Burrows; Cain; Capriglione; Craddick; Flynn; Harris;
Hefner; Klick; Leman; Metcalf; Murr; Noble; Paddie; Paul; Shaheen; Smith;
Smithee; Springer; Thompson, E.
Again, the bolded names need to be educated and held responsible. The grassroots must organize against these representatives, they are not representing anything but their own likes and dislikes. That isn’t their job. They are called “representatives” for a reason. They are supposed to represent. When Texas NORML held their lobby day earlier this session, the amount of people that showed up cover almost all 31 Senate Districts, and the majority of House districts were covered too – by constituents lobbying to reform cannabis laws. Our representatives heard us loud and clear this session, and some still chose not to listen. When will it “Klick” that we need to organize boots on the ground strategies to have these select few removed. Now. Now should be the time.
We have have exactly 600 days, from today – May 23, 2019, until the 87th Legislative Session. Those 600 days, will come and go quick. We must organize.
Prior to this, we have focused on representatives that voted against either 1) their party line; and/or 2) their constituents. They are clearly named above. Now, let’s talk about one “representative” who is like a cancerous tumor to patients – advocates/activist – and the movement as a whole. One that lawmakers hold in high (no pun intended) honor among themselves, as being a pioneer in the cannabis reform movement in Texas. Representative Stephanie Klick (“Klick”). Saying her name almost makes me sick.
Representative Klick, who had her hands all over and is responsible for Senate Bill 339 (Yes, a Senate Bill – It was filed by Sen. Eltife), is not a champion nor an ally to the cannabis reform movement. She has done more harm to patients, than good. Especially seeing as how the initial run of the Compassionate Use Program has less than 600 registered patients on it, when Texas has 10’s of thousands, if not 100’s of thousands of patients in Texas, that could benefit from a comprehensive medical cannabis program. A red flag warning should go up when you look into Rep. Klick’s background just a tad
Since the interactions in 2014 between Klick, Paige Fiji (“Fiji”) and one of the Stanley Brothers, Texas patients were doomed. You would know that if you have ever paid attention to the CBD push that Charlotte’s Web, the Stanley Brothers, and Paige Fiji were pushing. These people were pushing a CBD only agenda to Congress and the rest of the Country in 2014. As this was going on, they linked together with a Texas State Representative, one that was naive to the medical marijuana movement and whose only dealing in the healthcare field – is because she is a “medical business consultant”. Fiji and the Stanley Brothers worked with Cafe Texas, now know as Texas Compassionate Access, to lobby Klick to push this CBD only bill – which in turn, has been at a cost of patients needlessly suffering.
Rep. Klick isn’t even a medical professional. She is a medical business consultant. Keyword: business. This isn’t okay. This is who is being championed as a hero for blocking access to medical cannabis for 95% of Texas patients. Absolutely ridiculous, if you ask me. We have to organize, we have to get boots on the ground, we have to get these people out.
Take note of the bold names above. These are we need to organize against; and Klick. Klick is a given.
I have one question: Are you mad yet?