Texas Lawmakers Vote to Expand Medical Cannabis Program

Texas lawmakers in the House Public Health Committee advanced a proposal on Monday that would allow doctors to recommend patients who are experiencing chronic pain to the state’s medical cannabis program, Marijuana Moment reports.

The medical cannabis reforms bill by Rep. Stephanie Klick (R) would also remove the state’s THC cap for medical cannabis oils, replacing it with volumetric doses of 10mg of cannabis oil. Currently, Texas’s cannabis program only gives participating patients access to cannabis oil products with just 1% THC content.

The proposal originally sought to raise the state’s THC cap from 1% to 5% but lawmakers in the House Public Health Committee scrapped the cap entirely in favor of a system of volumetric dosages.

By adding chronic pain to the state’s list of medical cannabis qualifying conditions, the Texas program could expect to see a dramatic boost in patient numbers, particularly among those who are looking for treatment alternatives to opioids. The bill would also allow officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services to add additional qualifying conditions to the program later on.

Currently, only patients with one of nine debilitative conditions — epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spasticity, autism, cancer, a seizure disorder, an incurable neurodegenerative disease, and PTSD — can access the program.

The bill moves next to the Calendars Committee to be scheduled for consideration by the full House floor.

If fully approved, the bill would take effect starting September 1, 2023, the report said.