Texas House Votes to Expand Medical Cannabis Program

The Texas House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday seeking to add new qualifying conditions to the state’s medical cannabis program and allow for new prescribed products, the Texas Tribune reports.

House Bill 46, introduced by state Rep. Ken King (R), would add chronic pain and Crohn’s disease to the list of qualifying conditions. The proposal would also give patients access to new products including patches, topicals, suppositories, prescribed inhalers, and some vaping devices, and would expand rural access to the program, the report said.

“There are too many Texans who are still struggling to get access to the medicine they legally have a right to receive.” — King, in a floor statement

The Texas Compassionate Use Program was established by lawmakers in 2015 to give state-registered patients access to low-dose medical cannabis products. The program originally was designed for epilepsy patients, but lawmakers have expanded the program over the years to cover other conditions including cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, multiple sclerosis, an incurable neurodegenerative disease, and others.

Meanwhile, Texas lawmakers are in a showdown over intoxicating hemp products in the state: the Senate passed an outright ban last month on products containing any amount of THC, but the bill was recently amended by a House committee to regulate — not gut — the retail hemp market.