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Three Major Cannabis Reform Bills Are Heading To The Texas House Floor

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A Texas House committee unanimously approved a bill on Wednesday to expand the state’s medical marijuana program by adding over a dozen health conditions that would qualify patients for participation. And additional cannabis-related legislation is on the horizon, too, with lawmakers in position to potentially vote on marijuana decriminalization and hemp legalization in short order.

Under the medical marijuana bill, patients with cancer, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Tourette syndrome, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis would qualify to access cannabis. Patients who experience certain side effects such as severe nausea from conventional therapies would also be able to get medical cannabis.

That would mark a significant expansion of the state’s currently limited medical marijuana system, which only allows patients with intractable epilepsy who’ve exhausted their pharmaceutical options to access cannabis. Finding a specialist doctor to make the recommendation has been another challenge, which further explains why the program has roughly 600 registered medical marijuana patients in a state of about 29 million people.

“Overall, we’re really pleased to see unanimous support for the legislation out of the public health committee,” Heather Fazio, director of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. “Legislators are taking this issue more seriously now than every before, and they’re responding to their constituents who want to see these laws changed.”

Fazio said she was especially encouraged that the legislation, which currently has more than 50 authors and coauthors, would establish an in-state research panel to study medical cannabis.

All that said, reform advocates aren’t entirely satisfied with the bill as it was amended. While the expansion would be a welcome development, lawmakers scaled back the proposal so that the 0.5 percent THC cap for medical cannabis products under current law would remain in place, whereas the original bill would have lifted it.

Additionally, there are concerns about certain terminology in the bill. Advocates hoped lawmakers would use the word “recommend” instead of “prescribe” when it comes to the doctor’s role in the program because “prescribing” marijuana could jeopardize health professionals given federal restrictions. That said, the legislation does define “prescription” in a way that offers some protections at the state level.

The bill now heads to the House Calendars Committee, where it will await placement on the agenda for a full House floor vote.

Texas might not seem like the most obvious destination for cannabis reform, but state lawmakers have become increasingly interested in tapping into the issue. Earlier this month, three House committees discussed a total of 11 cannabis-related bills—from decriminalizing marijuana to regulating hemp—in a single day.

A decriminalization bill advanced out of the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in a 5-2 vote last month. It’s possible that that legislation, which currently sits in the Calendars Committee, could receive a full House floor vote as early as next week. However, lawmakers are looking at multiple decriminalization bills that have been introduced this session and may decide to advance a different version.

Meanwhile, another cannabis bill is already scheduled to be debated in the full House next week. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Tracy King (D), would legalize hemp and its derivatives like CBD. The House Agriculture and Livestock Committee voted unanimously to advance the legislation earlier this month.

“We’re seeing that policymakers are finally catching up with public opinion and where their constituents stand on this important issue that has affected so many live and families and communities over the last nearly a century,” Fazio said. “Thankfully people are having meaningful conversations about how current policies are failing and new ways that we can move forward. ”

In the past month, committees in MissouriHawaii and Alabama have each advanced marijuana decriminalization bills, and the governor of New Mexico signed decriminalization legislation into law.

Alabama Lawmakers Unanimously Approve Marijuana Decriminalization In Committee Vote

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

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Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment's Sacramento-based managing editor. His work has also appeared in High Times, VICE and attn.

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