Do you think you\u2019re free? Try deciding what you can put in your own body.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter if smokable hemp helps ease your aches and pains. It doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Most Texans Support Marijuana Legalization<\/p>\n
How do we know this goes against what people want? Polling consistently shows that around 62% of Americans support full recreational marijuana legalization<\/a>, while nearly 80% support it with a doctor\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019t appear to matter as much as appealing to the voters they believe will turn out the most.<\/p>\n At the end of March, a total ban on the sale of smokable hemp in Texas<\/a> 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\u00a0the state out of business.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Read More: How Likely Is It To Be Hit By Space Debris?<\/a><\/p>\n So here we are again with a policy that most people didn\u2019t ask for, businesses right here in Lubbock<\/a> that will suffer because of it, and consumers who will simply look for other ways to get what they want.<\/p>\n And that leaves one final question: if this keeps happening, why do voters keep sending the same people back to make these decisions?<\/p>\n