When the Utah Senate was deliberating the Utah Medical Cannabis Act, I was returning from a legislative conference that had been planned and paid for months before the special session being called. While my absence was unavoidable, I regret that I wasn’t there to give my constituents a voice by giving this speech during the debate.
“I joined the Senate just three weeks before the 2016 legislative session. Although there were many issues I was pretty well-versed in, medical cannabis was not one of them. As the session approached, it was clear that this was a divisive issue and one that was important to many people in the district I represent.