Research Library

In this Baker Institute Viewpoints series, five experts on the marijuana industry examine the question, “What does the future hold for the cannabis industry, in Texas and beyond?”

In the current campaign for Harris County district attorney, both incumbent D.A. Devon Anderson and challenger Kim Ogg have not only proposed to change the way marijuana use is handled by that office, but have also made the issue a centerpiece of their campaigns. Drug policy fellow Katharine Neill examines each candidate’s proposed changes in a new Baker Institute Blog.

Although there are enormous potential benefits for Mexico's energy sector in the future, there are also important challenges the country must overcome to fully realize its energy potential. One of them has to do with the land ownership and land use regime in Mexico. As the legislative debate on the new Ley de Petróleos and the Ley de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad (Petroleum Act and Federal Electric Utility Act) proceeded in the summer of 2014, the Mexican Congress anticipated potential land-related conflicts associated with exploration and production activities related to hydrocarbons and new energy-related infrastructure projects. These potential conflicts stem from the fact that all of these projects will necessarily require the right of way to access and work on the resources in the subsoil of privately owned as well as on so-called “socially owned” lands in regions targeted for energy development. Thus, the Mexican Congress sought to avoid land-related conflicts by including language related to land ownership and use in the new energy legislation. The legislation, however, may not be able to prevent such conflicts.

The March 2013 election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as the pope of the Roman Catholic Church has noticeably affected politics in Argentina, where 77 percent of the population is Catholic. By Pablo Ava, professor, Universidad de Buenos Aires School of Law, and 2008 Americas Project Fellow