Sensing a change of prevailing political winds on the issue of cannabis, Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz is defying conventional opinion. “A lot of people think we can’t pass cannabis reform in a GOP-controlled Congress,” Gaetz told the Tampa Bay Times. But with the deck stacked overwhelmingly against an end to the federal ban on cannabis, Gaetz remains optimistic. He thinks Congress can move forward on medical cannabis reform.
GOP Congressman Wants To Give Medical Marijuana Researchers Better Weed
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has a close relationship with President Donald Trump. To call Gaetz an avid supporter of Trump would be an understatement. In fact, GQ named Gaetz the “Trumpiest Congressman in Washington.”
Gaetz also makes frequent appearances on cable news. He’s railed against the Mueller investigation, went to bat for Trump after his “shithole countries” comment sparked outrage and even invited the controversial Chuck Johnson (known for denying the Holocaust) to accompany him to Trump’s State of the Union address.
But a favorite subject for the freshman congressman is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom he ridicules and taunts relentlessly.
Last month, Gaetz and several colleagues made Sessions the target of the Medical Cannabis Research Act of 2018, which seeks to improve the quality and reliability of cannabis researchers use to study the plant’s use as a medicine.
New Bill Would Force AG Jeff Sessions To Expand Federal Cannabis Research
For years, medical marijuana researchers have decried the limited availability of research-grade cannabis. Currently, all federally-approved cannabis studies must obtain their samples from a single government-authorized source, the University of Mississippi.
Not only do supply levels of those samples fluctuate due to dependence on a single source, but the quality is reportedly quite low. “It is