Texas to ease access to medical cannabis
The state still has very strict laws regarding the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

Marijuana advocates are hoping that Texas’s very strict medical marijuana program could see some changes. The state will have a new legislature next month and some Texan lawmakers are seeing an opportunity to improve the state's medical cannabis program. The Compassionate Use Program is one of the strictest in the country and some lawmakers are hoping to expand the eligibility further and relax some restrictions. Texas has 3,519 people registered for the use of medical marijuana, but according to proponents, there are 2 million people eligible under the current law. The program's limitations put the state in the bottom 11 in terms of accessibility, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. "We're pretty damn close to the end of the scale. We're pretty far behind," said Senator José Menéndez, D-San Antonio, referring to access to Texas' medical marijuana program compared to other states. Menéndez is pushing for legislation in the next session to further develop the program. Menéndez is drafting far-reaching bill allowing more patients to remove the THC limit and cut business fees, among other changes. "Here is this ... billion dollar bird's nest that sits on the south lawn of the Capitol, waiting for the right legislature to pick it up and take it in to show it to the other legislators and say, 'Here you go. Here's a way for us to help ... \[our\] citizens, "said Morris Denton, CEO of Compassionate Cultivation last November. Compassionate Cultivation is one of three licensed medical cannabis companies in the state. According to Jax Finkel, executive director of Texas NORML, Texas is often not considered a true medical marijuana state because it limits medicinal cannabis to 0.5% THC while over-the-counter hemp products are limited to 0.3%. "While there is a difference there that has added value and value to being a registered patient, that creates something of a problem," said Finkel. "And so a lot of people don't really see our program as a fully working program." As of December 14th, at least seven bills have been submitted by lawmakers to expand the Compassionate Use Program. "I think we'd see a lot more participation if we had a real medical cannabis program," noted Heather Fazio, director of the Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy.





