| Lone Star Mike/Creative Commons. |
Though it wouldn’t change any laws if passed, Austin City Council will consider a resolution supporting medical marijuana in Texas this Thursday. The resolution would merely show that Austin City Council supports the idea of medical cannabis. Marijuana – medical or otherwise – remains illegal in Texas.
The measure, pushed by council members Bill Spelman and Mike Martinez, supports bills expected this session in the state legislature that would give medical marijuana users a legal defense in court as well as another bill that outright legalizes the use of medical marijuana. Both bills are long-shots in the Texas House, though it hasn’t kept state Rep. Elliot Naishtat from trying to pass them repeatedly over the last ten years.
“We make a little bit of progress every session,” Naishtat tells KVUE.
“It’s an issue that is not going to go away, it’s an issue that’s expanding across the country and if the health benefits that come with its use benefit our community why wouldn’t we be supportive?”
The bill has the support of Mothers Advocating Medical Marijuana for Autism, a local Austin coalition of moms who have reached the end of their rope with conventional medicines.
“It can help kids with severe aggressive and self-injurious behaviors. It helps calm them down. It helps them not get to that level of anxiety and anger that causes one to lash out or to hurt themselves,” parent Amy Fawell tells KEYE TV. “This plant is miraculous for them it stops these seizures and doesn’t leave a kid drugged up.”
Austin City Council meets again this Thursday.