The Texas House voted last week to advance a bipartisan bill that would grow the state's limited medical marijuana program by opening it to people who suffer from chronic pain.
House Bill 1805's next stop is the Texas Senate, where it could face resistance from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who's served as a roadblock for previous marijuana reform proposals. Even so, some in the cannabis industry predict it will ultimately pass.
Final approval of the measure would mean a major victory for cannabis advocates, who have long pushed to expand Texas' medical marijuana program, considered one of the most limited of any state. The addition of pain patients would greatly boost the number of participants and likely draw new investment from cannabis suppliers, industry insiders maintain.
Sponsored by State Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, the bill expands the state's current medical cannabis program to those who would otherwise have been prescribed opiates for pain. Additionally, it raises the cap for the amount of THC in prescribed cannabis to 10 milligrams per dosage unit, up from 1% by weight. THC is the compound in marijuana that leads to a high.
"We've been trying to cut back on opioid use for a number of years," Klick, a nurse, told the Dallas Morning News. "Prescription opiates became a problem. We've done a number of measures over the last decade to try and reduce that, but this is another tool in the toolbox."
Cannabis advocates and medical professionals have urged Texas lawmakers to expand the state's so-called Compassionate Use Program (CUP) to include people experiencing chronic pain. Research shows that medical marijuana is particularly effective in addressing that condition.
Right now, CUP is only open to patients suffering from cancer, PTSD, autism, epilepsy and a limited number of other ailments, making it one of the country's most limited medical cannabis programs.
Advocates have also called on lawmakers to boost the program's THC cap, which they say is set arbitrarily low. Under the current limit, patients who need significant doses of the compound are forced to overpay to meet their required dosage, suppliers maintain.
HB 1805 also lays the groundwork for a process by which the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) could decide which other patient groups qualify for CUP. That could allow the program to expand more quickly than having to wait for the Texas Legislature to vote on new expansions of the law every two years.
Currently, there are just three state-approved suppliers for Texas medical marijuana patients. Industry officials argue that's kept prices artificially high. They said final approval of Klick's bill could bring more suppliers to the state, expanding availability and reducing prices.
"Texas is the biggest untapped market, so every [medical cannabis supplier] is going to be looking at this and doing the calculations to see whether the numbers make sense to apply," said John Harloe, general counsel of leading hemp and cannabis company Balanced Health Botanicals.
Harloe declined to say whether Balanced Health had applied to enter the Texas market. Earlier this year, the Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees CUP, began accepting additional supplier applications.
He said the TDSHS's ability to make incremental rule changes could be a major step forward, depending on whom the governor appoints to the oversight board.
"If you just pack it with anti-cannabis people, then nothing's going to get done," he added.
Kim Stuck, CEO of cannabis-industry compliance firm Allay Consulting, said she thinks the bill's potential to keep pain sufferers away from opiates will help it overcome resistance in the Senate.
She also predicts that the widening of CUP to include pain patients will be the first of many regulations to ease in the state around medical cannabis, especially with TDSHS empowered to make incremental changes.
"I'm feeling positive about this," Stuck said. "I think it's going to go through. If you hold out long enough, those regulations are going to open up bit by bit."
Allay Consulting is currently helping three potential suppliers submit applications to do business in Texas, another sign she reads as an indication that the state's restrictive medical cannabis program is on the verge of expansion.
"That number could increase. I get calls from Texas every day," she said. "I think it's finally happening there. I'm feeling the buzz."
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
