Texas Should....

“If you build it, they will come.” This quote from the 1989 Fantasy classic film Field of Dreams echoes through my mind every time the argument of legalization for marijuana arises.  “Building it” I would always imagine as the cool brightly lit grow house with rows emerald stalks with ruby and plum poofs blossoming upward. “They will come,” as in consumers, lots and lots of consumers and their money. Texas should most definitely legalize marijuana if not only for the tax revenue purposes but also the issue of civil liberties amongst its citizens. I would think this answer would be obvious especially after the examples that California and Washington have set.

            Legalizing marijuana will generate millions of dollars for federal and state tax. According to the tax, foundation cites (https://taxfoundation.org/marijuana-tax-legalization-federal-revenue/) Washington on average generates a revue of around 270 million a year. “Washington, after a slow start to bring the licensing system online, sales are now averaging over $2 million a day with revenue possibly reaching $270 million per year.” Texas legalizing marijuana means Texas will be able to tax marijuana and regulate marijuana just like the T.A.B.C does for alcohol. Texas “sin tax” is one of the highest-ranking taxes of its kind. Allowing the state to pull in around 937.6 million dollars from alcohol sales alone and seeing how the “sin tax” applies to tobacco, alcohol, and horse and dog racing adding marijuana to that list will only perpetuate the increase of revenue of the years, “tax revenue from tobacco, alcohol, and pari-mutuels (or betting, usually on horse racing, dog racing and jai-alai) provided by the State Government Tax Collections survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. Texas received more than $2.4 billion in 2012 tax revenue from those sources. That’s up from $2.38 billion in 2011 and the most of any state. However, when ranked by percentage of revenue, Texas is No. 4, with 4.97 percent of revenue coming from sin taxes.” (http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2013/07/texas-among-states-with-most-sin-tax.html). “Most of Texas’ sin tax revenue came from tobacco products — nearly $1.47 billion in 2012, down 8.4 percent from 2011. Another $937.6 million came from alcohol, an increase of 42 percent from last year.” (http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2013/07/texas-among-states-with-most-sin-tax.html). Assuming marijuana would fall under the classification of a “sin tax” for Texas, which seems only fitting, tax revenue from marijuana will most likely double that of the revues brought in from alcohol and tobacco sales. “It is estimated that the current size of the marijuana market nationally is $45 billion per year, approximately 0.28 percent of gross domestic product and comprising some 26 million pounds of marijuana consumed per year.” (https://taxfoundation.org/marijuana-tax-legalization-federal-revenue/). The data is there and it is clear that legalizing marijuana will, in fact, help Texas raise money for itself making it less dependent on the federal government.

            Legalizing marijuana is also a civil liberties issue. Many a convicted man, woman, and child who do not need to be wasting there days away in prison for possession of a natural herb. Texas should not make something illegal that the body naturally produces anyway. The resources wasted on “rehabilitating” those who do not really need it could be better spent on hospitals and half-way programs to help the mentally ill face their daily lives and help the recently reformed get off to better more hopefully and healthier starts. “Marijuana comprises more than half of all Texas drug arrests and 97% of those were for possession of 2 ounces or less.” (http://krwg.org/post/97-texas-marijuana-convictions-are-possession).  The men, women, and teenagers locked away for possession of marijuana could once again become contributing members of society and feed into the system, which keeps Texas powerful. They could own businesses and help people but instead, we have locked them up for smoking a plant. “There is a class of young people that are becoming unemployable and that is not good for the Texas economy. If you are trying to fill you have a work order on something and you have to hire a certain amount people and there is a restriction on drug convictions so now you can’t it makes it hard to fill that job. Is that the best way for us to run our policy if they are perfectly capable otherwise? Probably not.” Moody says.”’ (http://krwg.org/post/97-texas-marijuana-convictions-are-possession).

            Legalizing marijuana would get Texas financial situation squared away, much like it has done for the other states which have legalized the substance but it would also help Texas economy by releasing recklessly convicted citizen and allowing them too contribute to Texas businesses and way of life.

What's Up DOC?!

Christopher Moriates, author for the Daily Texan discusses the problems with health care in his editorial called "Doctors, Patients Need to Talk About Care Costs" It is fascinating to me that Christopher Moriates is, in fact, a Doctor at UT’s Dell Medical Center, to me, this says he is the right man to write and talk about this issue. He is very credible in making his arguments because he is in the industry. His intended audience is for doctors and patients alike.

Moriates claims that the health care system needs to change not just how insurance is done but also how doctors are informed. He believes that because of the noble choice to not inform doctors of how much procedures cost, in hopes that the cost will not cloud the medical judgment needed to get a patient the right kind of help, doctors often end up adding more unnecessary costs to their patient’s medical expensesDoctors, Patients Need to Talk About Care Costs. “Medical schools and residency training programs have traditionally shied away from teaching costs. For the most part, costs remain hidden even from many practicing physicians. Some would argue this is for good reason, since doctors should be making decisions based on medical need without clouding that judgment with considerations of potential costs. That intention is noble, but in practice, it often leads to doctors inadvertently saddling patients with expensive medical bills. Doctors and patients both need to better communicate about this problem and work together to find solutions if the financial burden would be too much.” Moriates believes better-informed doctors and better communication with patients will decrease the national medical debt.

Paying for health care is one of the top concerns of American families today. “One reason for this concern is more Americans than ever are on high-deductible health plans. This means even seemingly simple medical decisions could result in substantial out-of-pocket costs for patients.” Moriates states that with a system like this more and more Americans end up in debt from medical bills and costs and as a result of this do not seek further needed care. He introduces the term “Financial Toxicity” which is when an American may have the life saved but the life-saving procedure cleans out their life-saving the account. “Oncologists have begun to understand this problem, coining it “financial toxicity” and considering it an unintended consequence of their treatments. Just like other side effects of chemotherapy, such as losing one’s hair, this does not mean it is always avoidable, but at least by recognizing the issue, these doctors and patients can be more aware of the situation and can work on trying to navigate the problem together.”

I liked this article because Moriates didn’t just talk about the problem with the medical costs and how doctors are and should be held responsible for knowing the cost of a procedure and working with a patient to ensure tackling the medical procedure will not put anyone in debt but he also offers some solutions. “A number of new tools are also emerging to make this easier for patients and physicians. One free website and application provides local searches to find the lowest-cost pharmacy for your specific prescriptions. When considering medical tests or procedures such as an MRI or knee surgery, there are a handful of options currently available for the public to research prices. Healthcare Bluebook and Guroo are two websites that claim to provide a search of prices within your area and to help you determine a ‘fair price.’”

This was a fascinating read, which I was able to relate to having to pay my own insurance and medical bills. It makes me want to sit my doctor down make him read this article and then say: “so give it to me straight, doc, where can I save?”