The dust settling from Super Tuesday has given a better view of what will be needed in the Lone Star State to see marijuana laws change in some form. From voter turnout, the ages of the voters showing to polls, and what they favor, it will require more people to show up than ever before.
Legislation passage for marijuana laws in Texas is not an easy task as it would have to be heard in the state Senate. That wasn’t an easy task in the 86th legislature as Lt. Governor Dan Patrick killed multiple bills regarding marijuana. So how does the cannabis community get anything passed in the 87th legislative session? Voting. Specifically, younger people need to vote in the general election for people that will hold the Senate accountable. That includes Dan Patrick.
Let’s work through this.
While in the legislative session of 2019 the support for reform was bipartisan, the willingness of going against Patrick within the party was not. This would mean that the Senate or the House would need to flip party majority. The House flipping its party majority appears to be within reach compared to the Senate. Right now, Republicans lead with an 83-67 advantage in the House. Democrats would take 17 seats to get the majority.
If that were to take place, there could be resistance in the house for Patrick attempting to kill legislative policy items such as marijuana reform. Republicans in the house, for the most part, are on board from programs similar to HB 1365. That bill passed the house 128-20. It had a supermajority.
If a similar bill gets Senate support in the same manner, and across the line quickly enough to have the governor sign or ignore before the session is over, it would be a win. Vetoing it to shoot it back would be futile with a supermajority vote.
The data to support what’s required for change.
Those seats have to flip to break away from Dan Patrick’s grip on the party. The constituency has to vote for candidates that don’t align with Patrick’s prohibitionist stance and will defy him on it. For that result, the younger crowd will have to get out and vote.
A recent Emerson College Poll gave insight into Democrat legalization demographics. Among Democrats and a handful of Republicans polled, younger members favored legalization. Spencer Kimball, an Assistant Professor at Emerson College who helped carry out this poll spoke of the data gathered.
“With marijuana legalization, even within the Democratic primary, there’s a clear split between those under the age of 50 and those over the age of 50,” Kimball said. “As far as legalization goes, you have a majority under the age of 50 that wants to see it legalized. We get to the voters over the age of 50 and that number basically is cut in half.”
The older crowd are the ones taking advantage of marijuana in states where it is legal, but vote against it. The younger the crowd, the more open the group is to legalization. The younger crowd also isn’t voting. At least they didn’t during Super Tuesday.
There were no exit poll numbers for age ranges in the Republican primaries in Texas. But there are overall voter counts that were available, and Democrats did out vote Republicans in Texas for the super Tuesday competition just narrowly. Democrats cast 2,076,046 votes to the Republican’s 2,008,385 votes in the contest of March 3, 2020.
The number of voters is down from 2016. There was a larger number of registered voters in Texas. But they didn’t show if they are possibly still in the state.
How do we make all of this a reality
Voting for people that are against prohibition and willing to hold Patrick accountable in the House. The House is there for checks and balances against this very type of thing. But for that to happen, we have to make sure that everyone is getting out to vote, and voting out prohibitionists. Marijuana laws are not a single issue item to vote on. Marijuana legalization is a prison/criminal justice reform, healthcare reform, pharmaceutical reform, social reform, environment reform, energy reform and economic reform.
Make sure you are registered to vote. If you aren’t you can visit the Secretary of State website to learn how to register. As well, be sure to check out the Texas NORML voters guide to learn who has responded/voted as prohibitionists and who is for legalization efforts in your upcoming election at their voter guide webpage.