Texas Republican lawmaker backs marijuana legalization on religious grounds

A Tea Party-backed Republican state representative from Texas argued this week that marijuana should be legal for medicinal and recreational use because “everything God made is good.”

On Monday, Rep. David Simpson (R) introduced a bill that would strike marijuana from Texas drug laws. If the measure was enacted, Simpson would have the “plant be regulated like tomatoes, jalapeños or coffee.” Growers and consumers would pay taxes on marijuana like it was any other product, but there would be no additional “sin” taxes.

“All that God created is good, including marijuana. God did not make a mistake when he made marijuana that the government needs to fix,” Simpson said in a statement. “Let’s allow the plant to be utilized for good — helping people with seizures, treating warriors with PTSD, producing fiber and other products — or simply for beauty and enjoyment. Government prohibition should be for violent actions that harm your neighbor — not of the possession, cultivation, and responsible use of plants.”

During an interview with radio host Chad Hasty this week, Simpson said that he did not envision “a big government solution” to legalizing marijuana.

“We don’t’ need a registry or more bureaucracies. We just need to hold accountable for their actions,” he explained. “Under the new covenant, if you look at Romans 13 [in the Bible], the role of the civil magistrate is to control or to punish when you have harmed your neighbor. And I don’t want the civil magistrate telling me how to worship and when to worship and dealing with my relationship with God or even coming into my home and telling how to do this or that.”

According to Simpson, fears of marijuana “have been based on misrepresentations.”

Cass wrote:can I get an amen?