Lawmakers hope to expand medical marijuana program as state bans intoxicating hemp products
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas House of Representatives is set to ban hemp-derived products that can make a consumer feel high, closing a loophole on unregulated intoxicants but also creating concerns it will negatively impact Texans who rely on the products to treat their chronic pain.
After hours of debate on the House floor Wednesday night, a bill to ban all consumable hemp products containing THC passed a key vote. Both sides of the aisle agreed the current state of unregulated THC products, the intoxicating compound in marijuana, needed to be fixed to protect children and users.
However, both sides seemed to differ on how to do that. A majority of Democrats supported regulation while a majority of Republicans supported prohibition. A lot of the debate centered around the state’s medical marijuana program, called the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP).
State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, a Democrat from Houston, raised concerns for the veteran community. “You’re taking away potentially their freedom to choose this product that in their own words saved their lives,” Morales Shaw said from the back microphone.
State Rep. Tom Oliverson, R – Cypress, who wrote the amendment that changed the bill from a regulation on THC to a complete ban, sympathized with those concerns but argued the proper help for veterans would need to come from the state’s regulated TCUP.
“I don’t ever want somebody to be denied access to a medication that may be a benefit,” Oliverson said.
Lawmakers look to expand TCUP
There is a push at the Texas Capitol to expand the TCUP. The program launched in 2015 for epileptic children and has since slowly grown to include more people, including those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It provides low-THC cannabis to patients with a proper prescription from a physician.
There are currently three licensed dispensing organizations that cultivate and deliver the products to patients. Nico Richardson is the CEO of Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation, one of the dispensing organizations based in south Austin.
Richardson says one of the main issues for the TCUP is accessibility. He says when a patient makes an order they will either have to drive to the main facility of the organization, meet the organization at a pick-up location, or have the product delivered to their house. The size of Texas creates a long waiting period for the patients, Richardson explained.
But even more of a problem lies in the pickup locations. “The problem with that is with the pickup locations, we’re not actually able to keep any of our medicine there. It all has to stay in Austin. So that means someone has to order from us the night before, online or via telephone, and then we have to drive the medicine to that pickup location,” Richardson explained. “We have to drive the medicine there that morning and wait for the patient to come and pick it up. If the patient doesn’t show up, we have to drive it back to Austin, put it back into our vault in our main facility.”
A new bill that has already passed the House, House Bill 46, will increase the number of licenses available for dispensing organizations from three to 15. It will also allow organizations to store products at satellite locations to avoid the logistical nightmare, with an emphasis on making sure the locations are spread equitably throughout the state.
The bill would also expand the number of patients allowed to join the program by increasing eligibility. If passed, anyone with a chronic condition that a physician would otherwise prescribe opioids would now be eligible in TCUP.
The bill would also expand the amount of products. Currently, patients can receive their medicine in the form of an edible or a tincture. HB 46 would allow low-THC to be administered by pulmonary inhalation which would allow for a quicker reaction for the consumer.
What’s next?
Lawmakers questioned whether the TCUP bill would pass the Senate as it had in the House. During the debate on Wednesday night, the head of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, posted on social media that he supports expanding the TCUP.
“We will expand licenses and have satellite locations for the first time for prescribed products from doctors for our veterans and those in need,” the social media post read.
The bill was recently left pending in the Senate Committee on State Affairs. May 28 is the last day the Senate can consider any bill.
