Another Useless Bill, Another Day of Progress Wasted

I think this article has an interesting topic that isn't talked about much in Texas anymore and I completely agree with the opinion that a woman's body is her own choice and not the choice of others, especially politicians. These bills are like you said a waste of time and money, they require unnecessary steps and miss use money that could be better served on more important bills. This bill is no better than the current bathroom bill in Texas, telling transgender men and women what bathrooms they are allowed to use the Jim Crow laws did to African-Americans way back when. Telling someone where they are allowed to go to the restroom is as immoral as telling them what to do with their body and the fetus they carry. instead of fighting to control their choices, why not focus on fighting to help make more choices available to these women, such as healthcare or donating for medical research.

The Fight for Legalization

Let us talk about Cannabis for a moment. Weed, Marijuana, Marihuana, Hemp, Reefer, Gateway Drug, all these names and more are known to the general public and yet there are so many who know nothing beyond the various names, who don't know the history of Cannabis and how these various names came to be and how these names and the American people were manipulated into seeing Cannabis on the same level as cocaine or meth and the man who did it was Harry Anslinger. During the 1930's he was appointed the commissioner of the newly-created Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN), which needed a drug scare to bring money in for his fledgling agency. This led to a decade of not only anti-cannabis propaganda but also discrimination against minorities. Here are some of the several preposterous quotes by Anslinger, "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others." , "...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." and lastly "Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its user's insanity, criminality, and death." 

At the time no one wanted to go against these outrageous claims, but looking at everything we know now, we can easily prove these claims to be false. Cannabis is the greatest medical cure we have at our disposal and we choose to continue ignoring this fact in Texas. There is currently a bill called SB 269 in the legislature that would do so much for Cannabis in Texas. SB 269 would authorize 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. It would basically make Medical Cannabis legal in Texas and be able to be given to thousands of patients across the state. There are so many people who have illnesses that cannot be cured or have to take a pill and more pills to counteract the pill they are taking or are in chronic pain or suffer from PTSD, simply put Cannabis cures all of these things and more. My own sister lives in chronic pain every day and has taken every pill under the sun and still, the best they can do is make it manageable, which if you ask her they don't work. Cannabis when properly given in the correct doses, with the correct type and strain for that patient has been proven time and time again to be the best medicine we have.

Unfortunately, this bill will more than likely not pass this time, it has been sitting in committee since January and looks like it will never be able to be voted on, that being said there is hope for Texas legalizing. Thanks to the Texas Compassionate Use Act or SB 339 which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and became effective June 1, 2015, Texas wil soon be giving atleast three liscencses to three dispensaries to all the growing and cultivating for low-THC cannabis for Epilepsy patients this year. Little by little Texas is changing its thoughts on Cannabis and little by little we are getting closer to a Cannabis legal Texas. Currently, 26 states have legalized, and 14 more are currently up to legalize right now, my hope is that Texas will make it 27 states, Cannabis is a medicine, it is not a drug.

Sweet Tea and Politics

On my classmate's blog Sweet Tea and Politics blog I found an interesting post entitled "Texas Should Raise Its Minimum Wage" this a not so talked about topic these days in Texas. I find that this topic should be talked about far more than it is, or at the very least be as talked about as all the other major topics in Texas such as Gender Equality or Cannabis Legalization. It is sad that we have not raised our minimum wages since 2009 and this should be changed immediately before we are all out on the street. If we take a look at Austin this increase is quite needed, with increasing gas, increasing rent, and increases in home and car prices the current minimum wage does not satisfy what is needed to live in Austin, this leads to more paycheck to paycheck households and a larger number of low-income houses. All these increases and yet the one place a real increase is needed has yet to happen, well I say this wage increase should happen soon and fast, there are plenty of people willing work, but when you have those people work for less than what they are worth it instills a feeling of lower self-worth, stagnation and lack of ambition. Wages and Education are alike in this way; if we want our education system to go up we need to hold our students to a higher standard and with wages if we want our workforce to increase we need to have our wages increased to set a higher standard for our workers, it's simple really you get what you paid for.

Guns on Campus

This coming August open carry will be allowed on ACC campuses, but already other Universities have allowed open carry for some time now. This is a big mistake in my opinion and I will tell you the reasons why this decision should be changed immediately. One of the main reasons being that our gun laws are not really laws, they are more small road blocks that all you need to get through are the proper age, time and money. In the State of Texas you must be at least 18 to own a "long-barreled" gun this included rifles and shotguns and other related firearms, you can openly carry these weapons and do not need a license for them. To carry a handgun in Texas you must be, at least 21 years of age, take courses and pay a $140 fee and you will receive a license in 60 days and for you to open carry it must be holstered at all times. There is no waiting period on purchasing a firearm, and if you buy out of state you do not need to register your arms in Texas.

It is far too easy to attain a license and firearm in Texas and that frightens me a student myself. Not simply because of open carry, but more because of concealed carry. You can never tell who has a firearm on them because of this license, which in turn means you can never tell who is going to start a killing spree, who is going through such stressful things that they could snap at any minute. People always forget that anyone can pull a trigger, and that easy task will lead to the deaths of one or more likely multiple individuals. As a student, I want there to be massive reforms towards our gun laws and reforms for open carry on campus grounds.

Our "laws" are not laws if they do so little to protect us and can be bypassed so easily. The open carry on campus does nothing to protect students from other students and others carrying on campus. An example of some smart laws and measures would be for open carry to be the only carry on campus, no concealed carry and for all students to register with on campus police that they have a firearm, to have that firearm unloaded and with a trigger lock on at all times, and that every student must put their arms in a lock box during class time. Have the on campus police and other qualified individuals hold mandatory psychiatric evaluations and training sessions weekly or monthly to ensure proper use and safety on campus. These are measures that would prevent a student or faculty from going on a killing spree on campus and could save thousands of lives. Guns are a tool, but when you put a tool in an untrained and unattended child's hands that tool can lead to massive destruction.

The Bathroom Bill

The Bathroom Bill has been a hot topic in Texas for quite some time now, Recently in an editorial by Alexa Ura, entitled "Committee sends Texas "bathroom bill" to full Senate" she wrote about the recent bills to be passed regarding this topic. In the article, she writes, “the legislation would require transgender individuals to use the multi-stall bathrooms and locker rooms in schools and other government buildings that match their “biological sex,” and it would nix local anti-discrimination laws meant to allow transgender residents to use bathrooms that match their gender identity.” Now I don't believe that this in any way sounds like the problem of sexual discrimination towards the Transgender community will be solved. To me, these "bills" sound awful close to the Jim Crow Laws, and those lasted over 70 years. Those laws did the exact same thing these bills will, separate a group of people from the rest and increase discrimination. She writes that there are far more important issues that our government should be focusing on such as Schools, Veterans need help, our Homeless population increasing, there are so many better issues that need attention, then something like who get to use what bathroom. This will do far more harm, and will only further the misunderstanding of the Transgender community.

- W. E. B. Du Bois reflecting on being black in America in the early twentieth century

"I have always been made sad when I have heard members of any race claiming rights and privileges, or certain badges of distinction, on the ground simply that they were members of this or that race, regardless of their own individual worth or attainments. I have been made to feel sad for such persons because I am conscious of the fact that mere connection with what is known as a superior race will not permanently carry an individual forward unless he has individual worth, and mere connection with what is regarded as an inferior race will not finally hold an individual back if he possesses intrinsic, individual merit."

Missed Opportunity

I found a very interesting article on The Texas Tribune today. In the article "The Brief: Officials neglect grant application for anti-overdose drug" the Texas Tribune talks a little about how there was a gravely missed opportunity to get a $1 million dollar grant to purchase an anti-overdose drug called Naloxone simply because they did not apply for it. 

This to me is a horrible mistake, this drug could have saved so many lives, not only for those doing drugs but those seeking to commit suicide and the fact that our own government didn't even try to make this a priority and tried to hide it from the public is appalling, to say the least. Recently the price to purchase the drug has gone up significantly and this grant could have helped in purchasing so much more without worry, but now most likely it will become a rare commodity drug because the price has been marked up significantly. I think that this should not be something that happens in my government, something as simple as applying should not be the reason a grant was not given to the state, if a grant is not given after applying there is nothing to be done, but when you haven't even gone past trying to get it, that is something that should not be accepted under any circumstance. Now, who knows how many people will overdose simply because an application wasn't put through or because this grant was not made known to the public before hand.

What do you think? Should someone be punished for this, maybe the Attorney General? Should this grant have been made public a long time ago? 

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