Texas Rep Pete Sessions Compares Legal Sale of Marijuana to Slavery: ‘Slavery Made Money Also’

The House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties met on Tuesday to discuss cannabis laws at the federal level and one Texas representative had an interesting comparison when it came to the sale of the drug.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who was reelected last week, is one of several Republican’s on the committee that questioned the necessity of decriminalizing cannabis.

He made his case that the legalization of marijuana was a lot like slavery.

“The product is being marketed, the product is being sold, the product is being advocated by people who were in it to make money. Slavery made money also and was a terrible circumstance that this country and the world went through for many, many years,” Sessions said.

The Mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, Randall Woofin was there testifying that cannabis should be legalized and those with criminal records for possession should be expunged.

As the committee moved on and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was next to ask questions, Woodfin took the opportunity to address Sessions.

“Can you quickly explain the difference between a pardon and an expungement?” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“Congresswoman AOC? Yes, ma’am. I can. And Mr. Chairman, just briefly before I answer the congresswoman’s question — words matter. And while I’m on record, I just would like to say to you directly and your committee members that putting cannabis and slavery in the same category is patently offensive and flagrant. So I wanted to state that,” Woodfin said.

Woodfin posted the video on Twitter Tuesday, calling for an end to cannabis prohibition.

“I hope that Rep. @PeteSessions learns from his many Republican colleagues on the right side of this issue. It’s past time we end the prohibition of cannabis,” he wrote.

Listen above via Forbes.