The High Cost Of Cannabis In Texas: How Much We Spend & Lose

Even though over 80% of Texans want legal access to Cannabis, Texas itself remains stubborn on this issue. 

Governor Greg Abbott doesn't support legalization, but a milquetoast form of decriminalization, that is, "reducing the criminal penalty for marijuana possession to a Class C misdemeanor, but not legalizing the drug."

Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued five cities to block their decriminalization ordinances, stating, "I will not stand idly by as cities run by pro-crime extremists deliberately violate Texas law." Meanwhile, Ken Paxton is going to trial in April for securities fraud, which also happens to violate Texas law.

This stubbornness comes at a cost: it is estimated that Texas could make about $400 million a year on tax revenue, should it become legal.  I was unable to find if fines on marijuana possession charges cover the cost of enforcing the laws, but my educated guess is they do not.

It is arguable that folks in jails and prisons on marijuana charges plead down on other offenses, and may have been involved with violent crime.

However, during my brief tenure at a law office, I witnessed a case in which a man was sentenced to 45 years in prison for trafficking marijuana into Texas. The "cost per person in Texas prisons is $22,751" meaning that person alone will cost Texas over a million dollars, should he live out his entire sentence behind bars. I know he isn't a unique case.

Add to this the amount that Texans are spending in neighboring states for "weed tourism," everything from actual Cannabis purchases to Doritos from the gas station, and the amount we are losing versus what we are spending is mind-boggling.

I love Texas, and I don't want to leave it. But I sure wish she had a lick of common sense on this issue.