The state’s House of Representatives has voted to expand the Texas Compassionate Use Program for medical cannabis. The measure, House Bill 46, passed its final reading the House on Tuesday with bipartisan support. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.
State Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian), the bill's author, noted that the state initially approved low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis for the treatment of epilepsy 10 years ago and had expanded the program since then to cover other medical conditions. However, he pointed out that Texans continue to struggle to get access to medications they are legally allowed to receive.
"There are not enough dispensing organizations licensed in the state, and current law limits how and where the product can be stored and distributed," King said.
HB 46 requires the Texas Department of Public Safety to issue 11 licenses to dispensing organizations and allows license holders to open secure storage facilities without the need for additional licenses. It provides for the authorized use of prescribed inhalers. And it expands the list of conditions for which physicians can prescribe low-THC cannabis to their patients.
"It adds qualifying conditions, like palliative care, hospice, and chronic pain," King said. "It allows honorably discharged veterans to qualify for the program. It also allows doctors to petition (the Department of State Health Services) to include additional medical conditions."
One of the strongest advocates of the bill on the floor was state Rep. Penny Morales Shaw (D-Houston).
"Right now, too many of our fellow Texans are forced to either suffer or self-medicate because they don't have sufficient access, and this is an amazing alternative to addictive, harmful opioids, which we know is a huge problem," Morales Shaw said. "Chronic pain, Crohn's disease, traumatic brain injuries, seizures are all conditions that impact working families that still have to show up to work. They still have to come and raise their children. And these will allow them to do so in an able-bodied way."
The bill comes as the House prepares to take up Senate Bill 3, restricting the sales of THC consumables. King wrote both House Bill 46 and the House's committee substitute for SB 3. King's substitute for SB 3 is a near total rewrite of the original Senate bill, regulating hemp consumables rather than banning them completely.
"This bill only deals with what I explained. This is only the Texas Compassionate Use," King said of HB 46. "The other bill will be coming to a House floor near you soon."
NOTE: This story has been updated following HB 46’s final passage in the House on Tuesday, May 13.
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