The office of Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) has announced the congressman is in talks with a group advocating for legal access to medical cannabis, reports Marijuana Moment.
The move would be a full 180 for Sessions, who has personally blocked dozens of cannabis policy amendments and bills from consideration on the floor of the House via the Rules Committee, which he chairs.
Rep. Sessions met with Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism (MAMMA) in hopes of finding “solutions for our children to help improve their quality of life when nothing seems to help.” Sessions’ son suffers from Down’s Syndrome, which he said gives him an understanding of MAMMA’s situation.
“I was pleased to get to continue our conversations together in my Dallas office on Monday because I believe that by working together, real progress can be made. I look forward to continuing my journey with parents like Amy, Thalia and Mayra as we look to find the best solutions for our children.” — Rep. Pete Sessions, in the report
Rep. Sessions is up for re-election in November and the race is expected to be close. His opponent is former NFL player and civil rights attorney Colin Allred. Allred has made cannabis reform a major part of his platform and Texas voters have shown support for that stance, increasing the pressure on prohibitionist Sessions.
MAMMA co-founder Thalia Michelle said that Sessions, talking about his Rules Committee blocking cannabis amendments, claimed that he blocked the amendments not because of his personal beliefs but because of riders added to the amendments or because the language was too broad. But Sessions’ personal views on cannabis are almost certainly negative, as he has been quoted several times making statements against cannabis and using obsolete rhetoric to discuss the plant.
Whether Sessions’ connection to MAMMA is a genuine desire to do good or if re-election fears are softening his hand on cannabis policy is up for debate — any movement towards support for medical cannabis from Sessions, however, is a ray of hope for children who suffer from a variety of chronic illnesses.
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