Texas House of Representatives to Vote on Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill
Texas House of Representatives to Vote on Medical Marijuana Expansion Bill
On Tuesday, the Texas House of Representatives is set to vote on HB 1805, a bill that would expand the state’s medical marijuana program. The current program is highly limited, only allowing patients with epilepsy, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis, spasticity, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autism, terminal cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, or incurable neurodegenerative diseases to use low-THC medical marijuana formulations. If passed, HB 1805 would remove the 1% cap on THC and replace it with a 10-milligram maximum dose. The bill would also add chronic pain to the list of qualifying conditions, making the total number of conditions to 10. The legislation would open the medical marijuana program to more patients while allowing the Texas Department of State Health Services to add new qualifying conditions to the program.
Elizabeth Miller, a Texas resident with the hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, testified at the House Public Health Committee that the state should add more illnesses as qualifying conditions to the medical marijuana program to expand the group of Texans who might benefit from cannabis as medicine. Miller added that the current regulations leave her “stuck using” marijuana from the illicit market to treat her condition, which only smoking marijuana can help alleviate.
HB 1805 is one of several cannabis reform bills in the Texas state legislature, including HB 218 that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of cannabis and HB 1937 that allows counties and municipalities to legalize recreational marijuana at the local level. Republican Rep. Stephanie Klick filed the bill in January, and many believe it has the best chance of being passed among the proposed legislation. Governor Greg Abbott signed a previous medical marijuana expansion bill in 2021, which added PTSD as a qualifying condition and doubled the maximum THC potency for medicinal cannabis products.
Conclusion
The Texas House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill to expand the state’s medical marijuana program. If passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Abbott, the bill would remove the 1% cap on THC and open the program to patients who suffer from chronic pain, resulting in more Texans having the opportunity to get medical marijuana. HB 1805 is one of several proposed cannabis reform bills in Texas, and it is expected to have broad Republican support. The proposed legislation and Governor Abbott’s previous support for cannabis reform indicate a positive shift in Texas towards legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.
