It's 4/20, but don't forget marijuana use is still widely illegal in Texas
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - April 20th is a day many marijuana users celebrate cannabis, 420 being a slang term for marijuana.
While there's a small program to allow some marijuana use for medical purposes here in Texas, recreational use remains illegal.
Seven years ago, Amy and Jay Novacek's son Blake was assaulted in college.
"Because of the traumatic brain injury, he then started having seizures and was diagnosed later with epilepsy," said Amy.
After their doctor prescribed medical marijuana under the state's compassionate use program, his roughly 20 seizures a day dwindled to about one a week.
"It's a medicine that makes such a difference for the whole entire family and I know it does for so many other families."
Patients are only allowed dosages of 1% THC per state law, but the Novaceks are asking lawmakers to legalize higher levels of THC.
NORML, or the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, is a non-profit that operates across the county.
"It limits their ability to work with their doctors to find the best dosage for themselves, and so it really is important that we allow that to just be lifted or removed all together," said Jax James, Executive Director of Texas NORML.
James believes lawmakers should legalize recreational use to generate more tax revenue for the state.
"Hundreds of millions of dollars from tax revenue and tens of thousands of jobs that can be brought into the state," said James.
If you're caught with marijuana, depending on how much of it is found on you, you could face a fine or jail.
"Removing those criminal consequences allows for more people to stay in the working employed arena where they are not going to have to 'check the box,' if you will," said James.
However, there's pushback from most law enforcement on recreational use. The Texas Police Chiefs' Association released a 2019 report on the impact of marijuana legalization on state and local governments and communities where they found crime, impaired driving, and cannabis use by youth increased in states that legalized recreational marijuana while state tax revenue expectations fell short.
Another mother CBS 11 spoke to who relocated to Texas agrees with law enforcement.
"That's ridiculous, Texans do not want to legalize marijuana. They do not want to be like California, they don't want to be like Colorado. Texans have common sense; they're smart, they have the facts," said Aubree Adams.
She is with Every Brain Matters, a group working to prevent marijuana use expansion in communities. She claims legal marijuana harmed her son.
"My son became addicted and had psychotic episodes from marijuana dabs - the stuff they call medicine - and he developed a substance use disorder," said Adams.
Some small studies have suggested a link between heavy marijuana usage and psychosis, but the research is strictly limited by current laws and experts say more data is needed. "Dabs" refers to highly concentrated preparations of THC, the active chemical in marijuana.
The debate continues on legalizing recreational marijuana in the next legislative session in Texas.