Texas to consider expanding medical marijuana access

March 15, 2023
AggregatedNews
Texas
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Texas legislators are considering a new law that would make medical marijuana significantly more accessible. The Texas House Public Health Committee heard arguments on House Bill 1805 on Monday, according to the Fort Worth Star Telegram’s Eleanor Dearman. The bill proposes expanding the Lone Star State’s medical marijuana program to include chronic pain patients who would otherwise be prescribed opioids.

News of lawmakers’ consideration of the proposed law comes after a bill that would effectively decriminalize weed in Texas passed through the committee stage last week.

Texas’ existing medical marijuana program, called the Texas Compassionate Use Program, already allows doctors to prescribe low-THC weed products to qualifying patients. People with cancer, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and a number of other “debilitating medical conditions” currently qualify for the program.

Under HB1805, people suffering from chronic pain would be added to the list of qualifying medical marijuana patients.

During a legislative session in 2021, Texas lawmakers passed a medical marijuana law that added cancer and PTSD to the list of qualifying conditions—but a provision that would’ve expanded coverage to include chronic pain patients was struck before the bill’s passage.

[Read more at Houston Chronicle]

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