Texas becomes the 40th medical cannabis state!

On June 21, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed HB 46 into law, making Texas the 40th medical cannabis state in the United States! Until now, Texas’ low-THC Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) has been so restrictive that MPP and others did not classify it as a medical cannabis state. 

Texas’ law has slowly evolved from an exceptionally restrictive low-THC medical cannabis program. Among other improvements, HB 46 will:

• Expand qualifying conditions, including by adding chronic pain
• Add modes of delivery, including non-smoked inhalation
• Expand the number of licensees from three to 15, while allowing satellite locations
• Replace the 1% THC limit with a 1 gram of THC per package limit

Texas’ medical cannabis program remains very restrictive, but this is huge progress in an extremely challenging legislature, and it will improve lives. You can find a full summary of HB 46 here. 
 
This upgrade in a deeply conservative state underscores that cannabis policy reforms are possible in all political landscapes. Texas joins "deep red" states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Dakota, and Utah in adopting comprehensive medical cannabis programs. 
 
The passage of HB 46 reinforces the fact that a vast majority of all Americans want access to legal, laboratory-tested cannabis products. With a population of over 31 million, potentially hundreds of thousands of Texans will have access to laboratory-tested medicine that can improve their quality of life. 
 
Patients, veterans, and advocates were unrelenting in their push to better meet the needs of medical cannabis patients.
 
Texans were also successful in influencing Gov. Greg Abbott to veto SB3, a bill that would have re-criminalized sales and possession of THC products (except CBG and CBD) outside of the TCUP. A special session has been called to begin on July 21, to decide regulations for hemp-derived THC products. 
 
The power of people organizing to further access to this life-saving medicine cannot be underestimated. The road forward to moving federal policy in line with what a supermajority of states have adopted is closer with the addition of Texas as a medical cannabis state.