It does not matter enough, to enough people.
If you have paid any attention to the comments I tend to write to people on Facebook about what happened in this last legislative session, you will see one line probably pop up repetitively more than any other:84 percent of Texans want change in the state, but 84% are not willing to voice to their elected representatives that they want that change and they are not showing that they will vote for someone else if they do not get that change.
Then the Motley Fool posted this great article about what the biggest hurdle to legalization is going to be. I personally believe it to be dead on and it aligns with my previous statement. We know the stats across the country on who wants it legalized, medical allowance, decriminalized, etc. That is no mystery. We know the stats in the state of Texas for the same items. And all of this includes data across party lines. It is no mystery. And you will see people asking, “With this type of support across the spectrum, why are they not changing the law to reflect that?”
A CBS annual poll on cannabis revealed the biggest reason why.
Marijuana in this state and across the nation does not have enough make or break voter backing to cause elected officials to lose their seats. This means there is not a rush for lawmakers in Texas to endorse the legalization movement, even if we did see the House in Texas show that kind of support. The public tide has dramatically shifted in favor of legalization in recent years, but the votes are not matching that. People keep pointing to Dan Patrick as the reason, and this is probably Dan Patrick’s reason.
This is why it is so important in the upcoming primaries that not only you attend town halls and meet and greets, but that you are trying to get three to four of your neighbors to do the same and lay down the same concept that it will be a make or break decision in who you vote for. If this issue is what really matters, and you know people asking why it is not legalized, be honest with them. It is because they refuse to vote out the people that will not change the law. The reason why is that they are not voting for people that will stand up to Dan Patrick and Greg Abbott early in the session and push a sensible reform bill through. If those two knew that their legislative agenda was at risk because of not wanting to sign off on cannabis reform, the state would hear a different tune coming from the capitol on this issue.
Let us stop dreaming, and make this reality in Texas. Remember that there is a list of every senator up for re-election in 2020.