Do you think you’re free? Try deciding what you can put in your own body.
It doesn’t matter if smokable hemp helps ease your aches and pains. It doesn’t matter if it helps you relax, sleep, or unwind after a long day. None of that seems to matter, because lawmakers have decided to ban it anyway.
Most Texans Support Marijuana Legalization
How do we know this goes against what people want? Polling consistently shows that around 62% of Americans support full recreational marijuana legalization, while nearly 80% support it with a doctor’s prescription. In other words, most people are comfortable with it in some form. Yet policies continue moving in the opposite direction. It raises an obvious question about how representative government is supposed to work.
A small group of lawmakers continues to push restrictions based on decades-old fears and talking points about marijuana. Whether those claims still hold up doesn’t appear to matter as much as appealing to the voters they believe will turn out the most.
At the end of March, a total ban on the sale of smokable hemp in Texas is set to take effect. On top of that, shops will face major increases in the fees required to operate. That one-two punch will likely force many small smoke shops across the state out of business.
Will the health and safety of Texas suddenly improve? Probably not. What tends to happen in situations like this is that the black market grows. Instead of regulated businesses paying taxes and employing local people, the money moves elsewhere.
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So here we are again with a policy that most people didn’t ask for, businesses right here in Lubbock that will suffer because of it, and consumers who will simply look for other ways to get what they want.
And that leaves one final question: if this keeps happening, why do voters keep sending the same people back to make these decisions?
Cha-Ching! Every Lubbock Lotto Winner Who Won A Million Or More According to a database kept by data.texas.gov, Lubbock County has had 12 winners take home a million dollars or more since the Texas Lottery began in November 1992. The highest prize so far is over 17 million dollars!
Gallery Credit: Renee Raven
El Chico in Texas: See Every Remaining Location of the Classic Mexican Restaurant Chain
El Chico has a rich history in Texas, first opening in Dallas in 1940, and continuing the tradition today. Now, there are only a handful of El Chicos left in Texas. Here’s where to find them.
Gallery Credit: Renee Raven