Texas town tired of 'war on drugs' at the border sees push for legal marijuana

Many in El Paso would like to see cannabis laws reformed not despite local cartel traffic, but because of it: a military-style border has fractured communities

Of all the weekends for Colt DeMorris to be pulled over by the cops for a broken tail-light, it had to be the one before 4/20.

That day is the unofficial annual holiday for marijuana enthusiasts, and DeMorris is the executive director of the El Paso chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). He was headed home at 2.30am on Saturday from 420 Fest, a music event sponsored by his group. The smell was unmistakable.

What happened next was predictable: the arrest, the 14-hour booking process, the court date. What is more surprising is that amid the usual torrent of anti-abortion, pro-gun, anti-equality measures floated in this year’s session of theTexas legislature, there were 11 progressive marijuana-related bills,...

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URL: 
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/08/marijuana-legalization-el-paso-texas-mexico-border