Conservatives, you need to contact your conservative representatives if you want to see marijuana legalization pushed forward in this session. You can take a quick look at our last article on the bills filed on cannabis progress to see updates.
For real, that’s what conservatives are going to have to do. Consistently contacting your Republican state representatives. Telling them to start filing medical bills of their own. Yes, there was just an election. No, we do not have a ballot initiative in Texas. Not many faces changed in the House. The seats that changed were a few that resigned for one reason or another or people beaten out in primaries.
The change of conservatives
The following list is a list of either Republicans that took over a seat that was previously held by a Republican or a Democrat, or a Republican who lost their seat to a democrat.
District 2 saw (R)Bryan Slaton take the seat.
District 10 saw (R)Jake Ellzey take the seat.
District 25 saw (R)Cody Vasut take the seat.
District 26 saw (R)Jacey Jetton take the seat.
District 59 saw (R)Shelby Slawson take the seat.
District 60 saw (R)Glenn Rogers take the seat.
District 92 saw (R)Jeff Cason take the seat.
District 132 was flipped by (R)Mike Schofield to take the seat.
District 134 saw (D)Ann Johnson flip the seat from the incumbent (R)Sarah Davis
District 138 saw (R)Lacey Hull take the seat.
Learn how to become a medical cannabis patient in Texas
As well, Cody Vasut (link to Facebook page with contact info) showed conservatives that he is in favor of change for everything minus adult legalization. This is a screenshot from the Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy Voter Guide.
Jeff Cason (link to his website) of District 92 had the same response as well.
What you can do now
From this, if you think you may live in one of these districts listed above you can always visit the Who Represents Me site which is also embedded below to find out. Then, from there reach out and contact your conservative representatives and tell them you want them to file their own medical cannabis and legalization bills.
Write a letter
Here is a sample letter one can send:
(PUT DATE HERE Ex: November 15, 2020)
To the Honorable (Representative Full Name Here),
I’m reaching out to you today as a constituent in your district to ask you to file a bill to legislate medical cannabis reform in the state of Texas. The last session saw immense bipartisan support on this topic, but not many conservatives filed bills to show that support. Many were joint and co-authors and I am proud that it was supported across the aisle. (if they supported it in the previous session note so by saying – And I appreciate your support last session as well).
In this session, I ask that you show that you are concerned that this moves past the House and Senate. This needs to be on the Governor’s desk for signing. Texans across the aisle have shown support for expanding our medical programs to more people. It would no doubt be a conservative measure to take and not a single issue item, as this is criminal justice reform, healthcare reform, and economic reform. We need to let doctors work pragmatically with their patients. Even state senator Dr. Donna Campbell (R) stated that the government shouldn’t be the arbiter of determining which patients are suffering enough to receive treatment. It’s time that we end making criminals out of cannabis patients in Texas.
I do appreciate your time and patience in this matter and look forward to working more with you on this topic if you desire.
Thank you,
(YOUR NAME)
And that’s a great start for anybody wishing to show their elected representatives that they desire them to file bills. Yes, there are quite a few bills that have been filed, but most of them are by Democrats and it is likely that they could not even be heard in the Senate this session. The last session saw Dan Patrick killing any chance of a bill leaving the Senate and most bills coming to the Senate on cannabis.
Stay in the know
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