Statement from the Texas NORML Board
Written by David Bass
The ultimate goal of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is to legalize marijuana in all fifty states. NORML’s mission statement is as follows: “NORML’s mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient and affordable.”
Texas NORML shares this goal. Our ultimate goal is to legalize marijuana in Texas. Our mission statement is as follows: “Texas NORML’s mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.” Our goal is a system of licensed growers, licensed production facilities for marijuana products and licensed retail outlets for selling marijuana to consumers aged 21 and above strictly regulated by the state of Texas.
Texas NORML also supports establishing a medical marijuana program in Texas that allows doctors to write recommendations for marijuana for qualifying medical conditions and licenses growers and medical dispensaries. We believe that patients with qualifying medical conditions and a recommendation written by a medical doctor should have legal access to medical marijuana. We believe that lawfully designated caregivers should be legally protected from prosecution for assisting patients with using medical marijuana.
Texas NORML will achieve these goals by working within the political framework of the state of Texas. We will leverage our legal status as a 501(c)4 nonprofit to educate citizens in Texas about marijuana, recruit citizens to join our organization and lobby our legislators to change unjust laws. There should be no conflict between the goals of legalizing marijuana for recreational use by responsible adults and establishing a strictly regulated medical marijuana program. The recreational marijuana system would allow responsible adults who choose to use cannabis to purchase the product from safe, well-regulated sources licensed by the state of Texas. The medical marijuana system would allow patients with recommendations from doctors to have access to a legal source of cannabis for medical conditions designated by the state of Texas.
We welcome patients and recreational users of marijuana to Texas NORML. We will work together to establish a legally controlled market for marijuana in Texas where citizens can purchase marijuana from safe legal sources.