Despite cannabis advocacy in its many forms is well spread throughout the Lone Star State, South Texas and the counties around the border with Mexico are sometimes overlooked or at least not visited nearly as much. This is surprising, given that the region is home to bustling Texas cities such as McAllen and Laredo, along with our many vacation destination-worthy islands. Over 5 million Texans call the region home. In regards to cannabis history and reforms in South Texas, it’s worth noting that San Antonio District Attorney Joe Gonzales implemented a dismissal policy of all possession cases of under 1 ounce or .25 grams of concentrate in May 2019. But we are talking further south.
After several smaller reforms throughout the state and the region hosting many powerful cannabis advocates themselves, South Texas will finally be hosting its own chapter of the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws (NORML) to give those advocates and true cannabis patients an opportunity to expand their advocacy efforts in an area not often thought about for cannabis reforms.
Started by three-decade practicing criminal defense attorney and NORML Legal Committee member Bruce Tharpe, South Texas NORML serves as a representation and a cannabis knowledge conduit to the vast and diverse area of the Rio Grande Valley. Spending a few years in Colorado, Tharpe is himself a medicinal patient and from veterans receiving treatment for PTSD or children receiving relief from epileptic conditions, believes in the true medicinal benefits and is a devout advocate of the plant. And coming most recently from a state so pro-cannabis, Tharpe has been a witness to the frustrations and inactivity of cannabis legislation due to a small handful of members in the Texas Legislature.
One of the people that Tharpe met almost immediately after the formation of South Texas NORML was Jessica Puente Bradshaw. A previous political candidate and longtime advocate for individual freedoms and decision making for Americans due partially to her more Libertarian-leaning views, Bradshaw views medical and recreational cannabis consumption as an equally as important of an individual freedom and the Drug War in the same vein as any American who isn’t named Jeff Sessions views the colossal failure, in that it was a devastating disaster that hasn’t at all stopped the flow of narcotics into America.
And while one may assume that the opinions and sentiments of the area are strictly anti-cannabis, you’d be surprised to learn the progressive viewpoints of certain local representatives. Due to Tharpe’s line of work, he’s very well-connected with the local law enforcement branches, from the patrolling police officers to the prosecutors of multiple counties.
“Being an attorney, I’m in court a lot and I’m able to interact with a lot of law enforcement individuals and you wouldn’t believe the positive response from the DA’s office here,” said Tharpe. “I’ve had some prosecutors just call me “The Weed Lawyer” but I had the DA’s office show interest in coming to one of our meetings. Rep. Alex Dominguez came up to me in court and thanked us.”
And yet prohibition in Texas is still very real. Unlike the more progressive views of Harris and Travis Counties, Cameron and the nearby counties that consist of the Rio Grande Valley have no such policies, and cannabis-using residents of the area are under as much threat of prosecution as residents of Mississippi. As the Valley neighbors the border with Mexico, the fears of international drug trafficking is an ever-present fear among both the concerned locals and the larger law enforcement bodies, a fear that would naturally instill anti-cannabis viewpoints in some of the more reserved local residents who may not be so inclined on cannabis knowledge.
Speaking of cannabis knowledge, both Tharpe and Bradshaw agree that the residents of the Valley don’t have access to truthful and honest education on cannabis outside of fear-based prohibitionist propaganda by local police. Among their most important duties, South Texas NORML stresses that they will promise to provide only the most accurate knowledge on cannabis and the true societal costs of the Drug War.
“Texas is moving way too slow, period. South Texas has always been very last in line (for cannabis reform) because the level of education and advocacy, lower voter turnout, you name it,” says Bradshaw.
But to their credit, for an organization in their infancy, the volunteers with South Texas NORML have been getting their name out on a local, state, and soon to be a national level. By organizing meetings with both the general public, political parties and media figures in the area, the mission and aspirations for the organization and cannabis knowledge will hopefully become more widely known and respected throughout South Texas. With an additional effort in making appearances at local events, they’re approaching cannabis advocacy on multiple fronts.
“We’ve met with the Republican party, the Tea Party, we’re going to be doing a podcast with a local blogger this Sunday. We are going to start putting pressure on our legislators,” told Bradshaw.
“We will be organizing monthly meetings in Brownsville.” describes Tharpe. “We’re also going to expand to McAllen as quickly as we can find a venue that will host us. We’ll be talking about all different kinds of topics and guest speakers. We’re also trying to maintain a presence at local festivals and events and have an information table there to let them know about our meetings and drive them to NORML’s national website. They can join the national organization and they can write letters to their legislators.”
Tharpe will also use his status as a seasoned attorney to continue to organize meetings with the district attorneys throughout the Rio Grande Valley to push common-sense legal reforms, those reforms similar to essentially the decriminalization laws in Harris and Travis counties. As for the organization with the indescribably passionate Tharpe and Bradshaw in the driver’s seat, it could be conceivable that they become a beacon of knowledge for all eight counties and 4,872 square miles of the Valley.