Pot convention in Fort Worth to feature former NFL players, Montel Williams

It’s fairly easy to joke about the Southwest Cannabis Conference + Expo convening in Fort Worth this weekend (hey, it’s a joint session!). The timing is fairly amusing, too, a day after Donald Trump speaks in the same building and a few days before the Texas presidential primary -- government officials get in free!

But there will be some serious business going on at the marijuana-advocacy conference, Feb. 27-28 at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Television personality Montel Williams, who became a medical-marijuana patient in 1999 when he received a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, will be the keynote speaker. In a 2010 interview, Williams said he “medicates” himself every day with marijuana and that he’ll use “pot until I die” for pain relief.

Other speakers include former NFL players Ricky Williams, who won the Heisman Trophy when he played for the Texas Longhorns and is an analyst for the Longhorn Network, and Jim McMahon, the flashy quarterback for the Super Bowl-winning 1985 Chicago Bears.

Williams, who was suspended twice for failing drug tests when he played for the Miami Dolphins, told the web site Celeb Stoner that he used marijuana as a replacement for pain medications, because pot is easier on the liver and it helped his body relax and recover more quickly. (According to the website, Williams no longer smokes weed.)

McMahon told the Chicago Tribune in January that medical marijuana helped him recover from the pain of injuries suffered during his football career and that it got him off of prescription narcotic painkillers. McMahon, who played in last year’s Colonial pro-am in Fort Worth, and Williams will both speak at a panel titled “An In-Depth Look at Cannabis in Professional Sports,” along with former Denver Bronco and Dallas native Marvin Washington.

Also scheduled to speak is Alexis Bortell, a Texas girl whose family moved from Rowlett to Denver, where medical marijuana is legal, so she could have access to the cannabis oil that reduced her almost daily seizures to about one seizure a month, according to a WFAA/Channel 8 report from May 2015. The Texas Legislature has since approved a measure to legalize cannabis oil for Texans with intractable epilepsy. Any other marijuana use, for medical or recreational reasons, is still illegal in Texas.

Although the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws held its second annual Texas Regional NORML Conference in Fort Worth in 2014, this is the first time the Cannabis Expo has come here, according to Kirk Slaughter, the city’s public events director. Slaughter says he has not heard any complaints about the event.

Event organizer Rory Mendoza has so far not replied to an email seeking comment on the choice of Fort Worth. According to Texas Cannabis Report, Mendoza is a former concert promoter who launched his first Cannabis Expo in Arizona. He had attended similar marijuana-advocacy events around the country, but found them to be geared to the industry and not to the public. After success in Arizona, he began to get requests to bring the expo to Texas, the website says.

Texas Cannabis Project adds that Mendoza’s main goal is to educate Texans, and that he has even offered free admission to public officials and law-enforcement officers, saying that it’s important that they be educated on marijuana advocacy.

Slaughter says he believes organizers are interested in expanding the conference to other cities in the future, including possibly Austin. The Texas Cannabis Project report says that after Fort Worth, the conference will move on to Atlanta, and says a 40-city tour goal has been set for next year.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price told WFAA/Channel 8 that the conference is welcome here: “It's a public facility. Everybody has freedom of speech,” Price said. “They have to follow all of our rules just like all the other conventions.” About 6,000 people are expected to attend the convention, according to WFAA.

About a dozen other featured speakers are scheduled, as well as more than 300 exhibitors and panels on such topics as “Technology in Cannabis,” “Consulting in Cannabis,” investing in cannabis, current Texas marijuana laws, “The Future of Cannabis in Texas” and a Grow for Vets panel titled “Why Are We Killing More Than 50 Veterans a Day?” Cheryl Shuman, dubbed “The Martha Stewart of Marijuana,” will also be among the speakers at the conference. The marketing queen and driving force behind Kush magazine’s success has reportedly served as an adviser to many celebrities, including Madonna and Michael Jackson.

At the bottom of the expo’s website is a notice that states: “There will be no cannabis on site or used at the expo.”

According to an earlier Star-Telegram story and other reports, passes for the expo went up to $100 a day after Feb. 1. The expo’s website, however, is still showing $50 for a one-day pass and $100 for a two-day pass. For passes, go here. Also check out the expo on Facebook.

This story was originally published February 25, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Pot convention in Fort Worth to feature former NFL players, Montel Williams."