Nine new medical cannabis dispensaries could soon open in Texas, the Department of Public Safety announced Dec. 1.
The nine companies, three of which currently operate in other states, were given conditional licenses in an effort to expand the Texas Compassionate Use Program through House Bill 46, a state law passed this spring. Under the program, physicians can prescribe medical-grade, low-THC products to eligible patients in partnership with licensed dispensaries.
How we got here
During this year’s legislative session, some Texans said the 10-year-old program did not help enough people, citing barriers to patient access and limits on the types of medication physicians could prescribe. Since the program’s inception in 2015, just three dispensaries—Texas Original, Goodblend and Fluent—were licensed to provide medical cannabis products.
Under HB 46, Texas is on track to have 15 licensed medical cannabis dispensaries as soon as April. DPS issued nine conditional licenses Dec. 1 to companies that had previously applied to join the program, and it will select three first-time applicants by April 1, according to an August news release. Applications to become a TCUP provider closed in September.
Texas lawmakers added chronic pain, Crohn’s disease and terminal illnesses to the list of conditions that qualify patients to join the program. Other qualifying conditions include epilepsy, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder. As of Sept. 1, when HB 46 took effect, doctors received the authority to prescribe additional types of medication, including inhalers and vaping devices, Community Impact previously reported.
Dr. Matthew Brimberry, an Austin physician who is licensed to prescribe medical cannabis, told Community Impact in April that edible and topical cannabis medications are not effective for some patients.
“On average, [an edible product] takes about 45 minutes to an hour to initiate, and then it lasts for about four to six hours,” Brimberry said in an April 25 interview. “If you have somebody with extreme nausea, it's going to be very difficult for them to take something orally. If you have somebody with tremendous muscle spasms and they need to make it from their car to an event or to their house, they can't wait 30 to 45 minutes for the medicine to start working.”
