Texas Compassionate Use Act Analysis

For many years, drugs have been the center of crime and the criminal justice system in the United States. Due to this widespread epidemic, President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” in 1971 with a campaign that promoted the prohibition of illicit substances and implemented policies to discourage the overall production, distribution, and consumption. The War on Drugs and the U.S. drug policy has experienced the most significant and complex challenges between criminal law and the values of today’s society. With implemented drug polices becoming much harsher over the years in order to reduce the overall misuse and abuse of drugs and a expanded federal budget, it has sparked a nation wide debate whether or not they have created more harm than good. When looking at the negative consequences of these policies not only has billions of dollars gone to waste, but the United States has also seen public health issues, mass incarceration, and violent drug related crime within the black market in which feeds our global demands and economy. With this failed approach for drug prohibition, there continues to be an increase in the overall production of illicit substances, high rate of violence, and an unfavorable impact to our nation.

President Nixon first declared the “war on drugs” on June of 1971. This came after heavy drug use during the 1960s. New York in particular, had a rise in heroin use. After Nixon’s declaration, states began decriminalizing the possession and distribution of marijuana and other drugs. Many small drug offences led to a mandatory fifteen years to life. This Drug War has led to an increase of incarceration rates since. One of the earliest laws that followed Nixon’s announcement were the Rockefeller Drug Laws that to not only failed to deter crime but also lead to other problems in the criminal justice system. With the Rockefeller Drug Laws came heavy racial disparity of those incarcerated for drug related crimes. Although the Obama Administration has begun reforms, the new President Elect Trump’s views may bring all the efforts back down.

Drugs first surfaced in the United States in the 1800s. After the Civil War opium become very popular and was used medicinally. Following opium was cocaine which was also used as a health remedy but near the end of the 19th century opium and cocaine abuse peaked and local governments began to prohibit opium dens and importation. In 1914 the first federal drug policy, the Harrison Narcotics act, is passed and drugs are no longer seen as harmless remedies. The act aggressively regulated the manufacturing of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and morphine. During the 50’s more federal drug policies were passed and drugs began to become more criminalized. The 60’s saw a rise in counter-culture and substances such as marijuana and LSD saw widespread use. The demand for drugs skyrocketed in the 1960s. In 1971 President Nixon declared drug abuse America 's number one enemy and proclaimed that we must wave a all out offensive. After President Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1971, the United States has spent more than a trillion dollars on this failing policy that not only has had no effect on the amount of drugs being used in the United States and has increased the number of people incarcerated on drug charges from just 50,000 to over half a million, but also has helped fuel drug cartels and foment violence and death through overdoses from uncontrolled drug potency and turf wars between street gangs.

In the beginning of the documentary, The House I Live In, President Nixon gives a speech declaring, “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive” In 1971, this speech made Preside Nixon the first president to ever declare a “war on drugs” in America. He fought by battling, both the supply and demand for drugs. Karst J. Besteman (1989) describes this “war” as a “strong initiative against drug dealers and expansion of drug treatment facilities” (p. 290). The beginning of Nixon’s “war” was focused on providing treatment and rehabilitation, after the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 1973, the focal point of the

To start, a little history behind the drug war. During Nixon’s campaign in 1968 and his presidency thereafter, there were two threats to Nixon at the time. One was the anti-war leftists and the other was black people. The reason is, during the war with Vietnam, the anti-war leftists, or also known as the hippies, would protest often in Washington.

Texas has always stood apart in terms of reputation; known for its sprawling landscape, unique geography, proud heritage, and conservative views. Due to these characteristics, it is no surprise that, in the case of Marijuana, Texas has tended to lean towards a strict and firm set of guidelines. The initial piece of Texas state legislation passed concerning Marijuana was in 1919, when Texas decided to prohibit the drug within the state. Texas was the third state to do so inside the United States, and the law’s implementation set the foundation for proceeding policies.

This testimony is in regards to Bill HB 2107 (Lucio III), currently referred to the House Committee on Public Health (C410) for review. This bill relates to authorizing the possession, use, cultivation, distribution, transportation, and delivery of medical cannabis for medical use by qualifying patients with certain debilitating medical conditions and the licensing of dispensing organizations and testing facilities; authorizing fees.

In 1971 President Nixon declared an all-out war on drugs, now over a million non-violent drug offenders live behind bars. The war on drugs has been the longest, most costly, and destructive war in the US history as of today (Booth , 2007). The war on drugs focuses on the poor people, and not the bankers that launder the money. In 1973 Nixon created the DEA, which stands for Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA is a federal agency responsible for enforcing laws and regulations governing narcotics, and controlled substances. Their job is to immobilize drug trafficking organizations. When Nixon declared the war on drugs in 1971, the federal budget was 101 million dollars, going into the year 2000; the federal budget allegation was 20 billion dollars. Half of what we spend in the court systems and prison is drug related (Booth , 2007).

The War on Drugs began in increments, first with President Nixon and secondly with President Reagan (Hill, Oliver, Marion, 2012). While under the Nixon administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration was developed due to the thought of how drugs can affect an individual as well as a community. Drugs did not only affect the user and the community, but also the families as well as children. Out of all the presidents, it is documented that President Nixon was one who had discussions about drugs more than any other president (Hill, et al., 2012).

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the federal government began to increasingly tighten drug laws. In 1972, President Richard Nixon formally declared a "War on Drugs", which continues

On May 25, 2015, Attorney General Greg Abbott approved the legalization of cannabidiol (CBD) oil, a component of marijuana, that may help epilepsy patients avoid debilitating seizures. Texas is now the 15th state to legalize non-intoxicating cannabidiol oil. The Texas Department of Public Safety is overseeing the program, and at least three operational CBD oil dispensaries should open by September 2017. The law could potentially help 150,000 Texans currently suffering from epilepsy. However, the law has strict standards to obtain a prescription and may leave many CBD Oil seekers without a prescription. Patients who may not be able to afford prescription CBD, who do not meet the strict standards of the Texas law, or who prefer the benefits of CBD combined with THC (which some say is more effective) may attempt to procure CBD oil from untrustworthy sources. While quality non-intoxicating CBD Oil does not cause failed tests, CBD oil from these untrustworthy

The Compassionate Use Act of 1996 was passed by California voters which legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes. However, the California law violated the established federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which banned the possession of marijuana. After the DEA seized prescribed marijuana from the home of a doctor’s patient, a collection of medical marijuana users came together and sued the DEA and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in a federal district court. The two leading individuals, Angel Raich and Diane Monson sued the federal government on the grounds of declaratory relief and injunction in October of 2002 to stop the government from violating their right to produce and use medical marijuana. Attorney Randy Barnett defended

The War on Drugs is a term that is commonly applied to the campaign of prohibition of drugs. The goal of this campaign is to reduce the illegal drug trade across America. This term “ War on Drugs” was used during Nixon’s campaign in which he declared War on Drugs during a press conference in 1971. Following this declaration many organizations were created to stop the spread of drugs, like the DEA and Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement. Note that Nixon’s approach to this problem was to fund treatment rather than law enforcement. After Nixon’s retirement from office, most of the funding went from going into treatment to the law enforcement. Which militarized the police force giving the officer’s military weapons and gear. With this, the sentencing for possessing drugs was changed as well, resulting incarcerations rates to increase overtime. The increase of incarceration rates started to create many patterns that were soon noticeable. The funding’s that go into the law enforcement has shown to greatly have an affect on the incarceration rates.

This bill allowed for the possession of low THC oil under certain circumstances relating to health (“HB 1 Haleigh’s Hope Act”, n.d.). The oil cannot contain more than five percent by weight of THC. People are also not allowed to possess more than 20 fluid ounces or less of low THC oil if they meet certain conditions. The person must be registered with the Department of Public Health, have their registration card on their person issued by the Department of Public Health, and it oil must be in a pharmaceutical container labeled by the manufacturer. Only patients with certain conditions qualify. These conditions include cancer, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), seizure disorders related to epilepsy or head trauma, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Mitochondrial disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Sickle Cell disease. HB 1 also opens the doors for Georgia Universities to create study programs specifically for the treatment of pediatric seizure disorders (“Medical Marijuana Access- Georgia”, n.d.). Although the law makes it lawful to possess certain amounts of oil, there are no provisions in the law that suggest how they are to obtain medical

While laws prohibiting the use of drugs, in one form or another, can be traced back to the 1870s, it was not until 1968, when Richard M. Nixon was elected President, that our current drug war was conceived. In 1970 Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act.(2) With an