Texas lawmakers on Sunday passed a bill to expand the state’s medical cannabis program, moving it to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his signature, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. The bill adds traumatic brain injuries, chronic pain, and a terminal illness or condition that requires hospice to the program.
The bill also raises the number of dispensing organizations from three to 15, allows vaporized or aerosolized medical cannabis delivery – smoking remains banned, however – and allows for satellite locations where dispensing organizations can securely store medical cannabis for distribution. Previously, products could only be stored overnight at an organization’s main location, which created distribution challenges.
The reforms come as lawmakers last week passed a total ban on THC in the state. Abbott has not yet taken action on the proposed law.
The legislation passed on Sunday defines chronic pain as “pain that is not relieved with acute, post-surgical, post-procedure or persistent non-chronic pain treatment and is associated with a chronic pathological process that causes continuous or intermittent severe pain for more than 90 days and for which a tetrahydrocannabinol is a viable method of treatment.”
The version that passed out of the state House in May also expressly included glaucoma, degenerative disc disease, and spinal neuropathy – the conditions are expected to be covered under the chronic pain clause.
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