CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Several members of the Texas House of Representatives hope a proposed bill legalizing marijuana will move forward in January.
“When someone’s really hurting and in pain to see some relief in their eyes and the eye of their loved ones,” said Owner of House of Hemp, Craig Bethards.
Bethards says when he is able to help his customers suffering from epilepsy, seizures, and forms of PTSD with his CBD products; it brings him great joy. And with these marijuana reform bills on the table, he could serve and assist more clients.
“Hopefully it helps us help more people. It gives us the ability to help more people in the community to get the word out there about the benefits of what the hemp products and the CBD products do,” said Bethards.
Bethards says finding hemp farms here in South Texas is extremely rare because of the soil. However, House Bill 447 could make a huge impact on everyday Texans if passed.
“This is a new bill, a new concept for the house I certainly know that it’s a tough conversation it will be going further than any we’ve ever gone in Texas before, but, if we don’t have the conversation then we never get to the conclusions,” said House Member of State of TX District 78 (D)Rep. Joe Moody.
Rep. Joe Moody who’s based in El Paso Texas says this will be the first time a bill like 447 has been files to the House of Representatives. The proposed plan would make recreational marijuana legal for those who are 21-years-old and above. Driving under the influence of marijuana would still be against the law. Moody believes placing a tax would also be a huge help too.
“Here’s the great part for Texas, we have waited long enough that we have seen this become more than just an experiment many states have endeavored to do this and so they can show us here’s some good things you can do here’s some mistakes you can avoid,” said Rep. Joe Moody.
In a recent social media post, our KRIS 6 News team was seeking public opinion about the proposed HB-447. A total of 1,231 votes brought results in 85% of folks were for the passing of HB-447. On the other hand,13.4% said they were against HB-447.
“While I am glad there’s a lot of support, in the Texas House we have to see something from the Governor's office or it’s a waste of our time,” said the former president of NORML CC Kyle Hoelscher.
Hoelscher says if legalization was passed in Texas, this could create a huge net worth in revenue.
“The biggest thing I hope the legislator pays attention to, on legalization, is that we could be missing out on somewhere between 400-million and 1.2 billion dollars of tax revenue,” said Hoelscher.
Hoelscher also reveals how legalization would create more jobs where locals can grow, shop, and employ.
“The great thing about cannabis legalization is that it is primarily a local activity,” said Hoelscher.
Yet, Hoelscher says only time will tell. The discussion is set to take place in Austin on January 12th.
“While it’s nice to see that many bills filed for marijuana is that we really don’t know till they meet in January,” said Hoelscher.
To read the full HB-447 click here.
