Politics
Texas Officials Approve Nine New Medical Marijuana Business Licenses As State Expands Patient Access
Texas officials have conditionally approved nine new medical marijuana business licenses as part of a law that’s being implemented to significantly expand the state’s cannabis program.
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced on Monday that it’s completed the first phase of the Texas Compassionate Use Program (TCUP) expansion selection process, which will now involve an additional due diligence assessment for the nine businesses before formally awarding the licenses.
Officials said the conditional approvals “do not grant the applicant permission to cultivate, manufacture, distribute or sell cannabis products until final approval by the department.”
“As a holder of a conditional license, the licensee is subject to the department’s ongoing due diligence evaluation,” DPS said. “Each conditional licensee is expected to fully comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to the medicinal license issued under TCUP.”
“DPS will be requesting additional information from these businesses and will not be invoicing any dispensing organization license fees until the additional due diligence evaluations are completed and passed. The announcement of these nine businesses today does not guarantee that these businesses will be issued final TCUP licenses to operate as dispensing organizations.”
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.
Of the nine conditional licensees that were selected so far, two are owned by large multi-state operators: Trulieve and Verano.
Village Farms International, another multi-state operator, issued a press release about the company not being selected this round, saying its proposal will be considered in the upcoming second phase of approvals.
“We remain committed to supporting the Texas cannabis industry, as the outcome of Phase I awards has zero impact on our financial performance, outlook or strategy,” Michael A. DeGiglio, president and CEO of the company, said. “We’ve proven that we don’t need first mover advantage to be successful, and will continue pursuing other opportunities to activate our Texas assets for cannabinoid production in the future.”
“We believe our operational capabilities and infrastructure are well suited to support a viable industry in the State of Texas, and will continue working with policy makers and regulators to advocate for commonsense reform that enables safe access to affordable products,” he said.
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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This latest development comes after the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) adopted rules allowing doctors to recommend new qualifying conditions for cannabis patients and creating standards for allowable low-THC inhalation devices.
Separately, 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.
Separately, 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.
Image element courtesy of AnonMoos.
