Shenandoah City Council approved an ordinance at its Sept. 25 meeting in a 4-1 vote to allow a special-use permit for a medical cannabis prescription center to open in the city limits.
What to know
Texas Original is a prescription pickup station where customers can pick up their medical cannabis medication. The company previously had a location in Conroe where many customers were from The Woodlands and Shenandoah, according to the meeting agenda.
“We got a lot of feedback from our customers that they wanted one in this specific location,” Director of Logistics Jeremy Barringer said.
Within a 5-mile radius, there are 500 patients who are 55 years old and older who meet the requirements of the state for pre-existing conditions, Barringer said. The prescriptions are mostly for oral gummies, he said.
Some context
In 2015, Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Compassionate Use Act that allowed medical cannabis to be used as a treatment for those with intractable epilepsy.
Under the Compassionate Use Program, patients are now eligible to receive a medical cannabis prescription for the following conditions:
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Cancer
- Peripheral Neuropathy (nerve pain)
- Spasticity (muscle spasms)
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease)
- Autism
- Cerebral palsy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
- Seizure disorders
- Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases
“I have residents that have come to me and are begging us to do this because of these products and they have to drive to Conroe or to Houston Heights to pick up the deliveries, and it takes up half a day if they live in Shenandoah, especially to downtown Houston,” Council Member Jim Pollard said.
“We have memory care facilities and we have many patients who utilize gummies on a regular basis and what it does to their life and making a difference that they can actually have a true quality of life,” Council Member Ted Fletcher said.
What‘s next
The center will be located at 1500 Research Forest Drive, Ste. 120, in Shenandoah.