Politics
Texas Agency Releases Form To Recommend New Medical Marijuana Qualifying Conditions And Approved Inhalation Devices
Doctors in Texas can now complete and submit an official state form to recommend adding new medical conditions that they think should qualify a patient for medical marijuana. And dispensaries can also use the form to put forward proposals to authorize specific inhalation devices for patients.
After officials adopted rules in compliance with a recently enacted state law expanding Texas’s medical cannabis program, the Department of State Health Services released the new form on Tuesday.
For doctors seeking to add qualifying conditions for medical marijuana, they are required to submit peer-reviewed research justifying the expansion. Dispensaries, meanwhile, must affirm that the device they’re recommending is “safe and effective for the pulmonary inhalation of low-THC cannabis.”
The form is being distributed just as the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) has conditionally approved nine new medical marijuana business licenses as part of a new cannabis law.
Under the law passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in June, DPS is required to issue a total of 12 new licenses under the legislation. The department will issue conditional licenses to three additional dispensaries by April 2026.
This represents a major change to the program, as there are currently only three dispensaries licensed to operate in Texas.
DPS in October adopted additional rules to increase the number of licensed dispensaries, establishing security requirements for “satellite” locations and authorizing the revocation of licenses for certain violations.
In addition to increasing the number of dispensaries in the state, the law signed by the governor also expands the state’s list of medical cannabis qualifying conditions to include chronic pain, traumatic brain injury (TBI), Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases, while also allowing end-of-life patients in palliative or hospice care to use marijuana.
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Separately, the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) recently adopted a set of emergency rules meant to prevent the sale of intoxicating hemp products to people under 21.
After similar restrictions were implemented by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) in September, DSHS announced that they’ve moved forward with the policies changes that comply with the governor’s recent executive order on hemp.
After the legislature failed to pass a controversial bill to ban hemp products containing THC during two special sessions following the governor’s veto of a similar measure earlier this year, the governor signed the executive order to impose certain restrictions on the market.
Meanwhile, a recent survey from a GOP pollster affiliated with President Donald Trump found that Texas Democratic and Republican voters are unified in their opposition to the hemp ban proposal.
