A fundraising concert put the debate to legalize marijuana on center stage in South Austin on Friday night.
Music icons Willie Nelson and Ray Benson were the headliners, but the real headline was the cause the concert would help.
"The war on drugs is about as effective as the war in Iraq," Ray Benson said.
When it comes to marijuana, Benson says society is losing big. Big amounts of money, resources, and jail space for an undeserving cause. To find victory, Benson says "make it legal."
"It's the sane thing as the person who comes home after work and has a few martinis. What's the big deal?" he said.
Willie Nelson is teaming up with Benson to give Friday's concert proceeds to four marijuana policy reform groups. But there are other groups here in Austin who see little benefit in the concert.
"Most Texans will say at best it's sort of a light hearted idea at worst it's flat insane," James Cardle of the Texas Citizen Action Network said.
Both sides of the argument agree that legalizing marijuana is still a long-shot possibility, especially the case here in Texas.
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Legalization debate
A fundraising concert put a spotlight on the debate to legalize marijuana Friday night.
 
Willie Nelson speaks
Musician Willie Nelson talks to News 8 Austin's Andy Langer about his views on legalizing marijuana.
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"Is the worker on I-35 going to be able to smoke a joint on his lunch break and then go back to improving the rivets on the bridge that we travel on? Practically, it's just so unrealistic," Cardle said.
Benson says legalizing marijuana will cut the drug industry's earnings down to size, help patients who need it for medicinal reasons, and cut down on overcrowding in jails. But he says few politicians who see his points will ever speak up.
"It's a political football that none of them want to touch because then their opponent can say he's for drugs," he said.
But others say pot is a gateway drug, and even if users are no longer sent to jail, eventually they'll head there for something worse.
"Down the road, you will have an explosion. The pipeline will get full and be packed," Cardle said.
Texas State Representative Elliot Naishtat sponsored a medicinal marijuana bill for patients with serious medical conditions, but the Public Health Committee denied the bill a hearing.
Twelve states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use.
