Texans for Medical Marijuana

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I would be suprised if they made it legal even for medical purposes. This year is supposed to be the biggest crackdown on marijuana EVER in TX. That's why I am buying another carbon filter. Be careful if you live in TX, I know I will be...
 
Sept. 13, 2006, 8:51PM
Friedman calls for decriminalization of marijuana

By JANET ELLIOTT and PEGGY FIKAC
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman today called for the decriminalization of marijuana to avoid further clogging state prisons with nonviolent offenders.

He also said he would favor a review of people already imprisoned on marijuana charges to "rehab them, try to get them back into society."


"We've got to clear some of the room out of the prisons so we can put the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles and the politicians," said Friedman, a humorist and author.

Friedman said he doesn't yet have specifics on how decriminalization would work, including what amount of marijuana a person could possess without being charged. He did say that he doesn't favor making marijuana legally available for purchase.

"I'm not talking about like Amsterdam," he said.

"I agree with (U.S. Sen.) John McCain that we've lost the drug war," Friedman said. "Drugs are more available, they're cheaper.

"It's clear to me, if you've lost the war on drugs then you've got to go some other direction. You can't keep banging your head against the wall."
Friedman's comments on marijuana came one week after he created a controversy in Houston when he said the musicians and artists who fled Hurricane Katrina had returned to New Orleans but the "crackheads and thugs" remained behind. He later added that many evacuees who remain in Houston are good citizens.

The candidate said today that crack cocaine "is a different deal" from marijuana.

"Marijuana is a very different situation. It's not like crack and (other) drugs that create violence," he said.

Friedman discussed his prior cocaine use last week in an interview with the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. He also has written extensively and talked freely about his cocaine use when he was a satirical musician during the 1970s and early 1980s.

He said the deaths of two close friends spurred him to change his lifestyle and he has not used illegal drugs since 1985, when he left New York to return to Texas and began writing detective novels.
Friedman also added that while he knows most of the New Orleans evacuees are black, "crackheads come in all colors of the rainbow. So do racists."

"I'm not a racist. I'm a realist," said Friedman, adding that he is the only gubernatorial candidate addressing the issue of crime in Houston.

Political scientist Bruce Buchanan of the University of Texas at Austin said Friedman is "off the beaten path. There's no question about that. That's his whole schtick."

"By traditional standards, we would all dismiss this out of hand," Buchanan said. But he said that "given the fluidity (of the governor's race) ... we have to wait awhile. The die has not yet been cast."

"He's new to the political game. He's still thinking it through. He still tends to say what he thinks whenever asked. And because of these special circumstances, it might not undermine his candidacy yet," Buchanan said.

Mark Sanders, spokesman for independent gubernatorial candidate Carole Keeton Strayhorn, said, "She is opposed to the legalization of illegal drugs."

Robert Black, spokesman for incumbent Rick Perry, said, "The governor does not agree with Kinky and does not believe marijuana should be legalized."

Democrat Chris Bell also is not in favor of legalizing marijuana.

"Drugs are illegal for a reason," said Bell's campaign manager, Jason Stanford. "The last thing we need is to give kids the message that drugs are OK. They pose a serious problem to our communities."

Libertarian candidate James Werner, however, said he would go further than decriminalization and support the "legalization, taxation and regulation of drugs in order to reduce the tremendous amount of crime associated with drug use and distribution."

"It will be treated like alcohol," Werner said, adding that he would start with marijuana and move toward legalization of all drugs.

Friedman also said he would like to put inmates to work outside the confines of prison walls.

"Let them paint poor people's houses, fix up the state parks, things like that," he said. "It would be good for them and good for us."

[email protected]; [email protected]
 
I just sent this to the austin statesmen newspaper:

http://cgi.statesman.com/mail.pl

Dear Editor,
As a responsible citizen and marijuana user I applaud what Kinky Friedman said yesterday about marijuana.
It ought to be as legal and regulated as tobbacco is.
 
Thank you for your letter to the editor.

We will be reviewing it for possible publication and may contact you
to verify authorship by phone or email. This response does not
guarantee publication.

In the event of publication, make sure the following is
included: your name, city of residence and a daytime phone.

Thanks for writing.

Letters to the Editor
305 S. Congress Ave.
P.O. Box 670
Austin, TX
78767
(512) 445-1773
(512) 912-5927 Fax
[email protected]
 
I'm sure I will hear about it if it hits the papers. I live in austin. I don't know about kinky as an individual or politician, but I do like his views on marijuana.
 
He did say that he doesn’t favor making marijuana legally available for purchase.
 
I think they should legalize it all over. The Gov cannot tax it and that is why it is not legal..you can grow your own.....I love East Texas
 
AeroTX said:
I would be suprised if they made it legal even for medical purposes. This year is supposed to be the biggest crackdown on marijuana EVER in TX. That's why I am buying another carbon filter. Be careful if you live in TX, I know I will be...

Well, NM legalized it, and TX (where I split my time between there and LA). I was in texas for 11 years before starting to venture out to L.A. TX will probably be the next state to legalize MJ, that or Nevada/Arizona.
 
Nevada already has passed decriminalization and medical use. With medical permit you can grow 3 or 4 plants as well. Texas can not evening get the state legislature to vote on medical, you can imagine what would happen if decriminalization was tried to be voted on.

News release from TMM.

The 80th session of the Texas Legislature is coming to a close, and we want to thank you again for taking action in support of House Bill 1534. Last night in a final push for this session, Representative Naishtat tried to amend the language of HB 1534 onto another bill that was being considered on the floor of the House of Representatives. One joint-author of HB 1534, Representative Garnet Coleman, joined Representative Naishtat in calling on their fellow Legislators to support the amendment, but despite their efforts no vote was taken.

It is with a heavy heart that we need to announce that Texans for Medical Marijuana is concluding campaign operations on May 31st. After much consideration, we have determined that a new strategy needs to be developed for a medical marijuana bill to be successful in the Texas Legislature.

I hope they can come up will a new strategy that works.
 
While recreational marijuana is still illegal in the state, medical marijuana with up to 0.5 percent THC by weight is legal for Texans who qualify under the Compassionate Use Program. This year, the program could see some expansions as Texas lawmakers meet for the 2021 legislative session. Thousands more Texans can now be prescribed medical cannabis oil with low levels of THC, the ingredient that gets people high.
 
While recreational marijuana is still illegal in the state, medical marijuana with up to 0.5 percent THC by weight is legal for Texans who qualify under the Compassionate Use Program. This year, the program could see some expansions as Texas lawmakers meet for the 2021 legislative session. Thousands more Texans can now be prescribed medical cannabis oil with low levels of THC, the ingredient that gets people high.
4 out of 5 dentists surveyed recommend sugarless gum to their patients who chew gum. Even 15 years later…
 
While recreational marijuana is still illegal in the state, medical marijuana with up to 0.5 percent THC by weight is legal for Texans who qualify under the Compassionate Use Program. This year, the program could see some expansions as Texas lawmakers meet for the 2021 legislative session. Thousands more Texans can now be prescribed medical cannabis oil with low levels of THC, the ingredient that gets people high.
Seriously bro. You never post on anybody's thread that's still here. You have never tried to be a part of this community. What the fk is your deal
 

Latest posts

Back
Top