Texas: Encourage your state legislators to support expanded access to medical cannabis!

Our Texas Compassionate Use Program (T.CUP) is unreasonably restrictive, leaving behind the vast majority of patients who could benefit from access to medical cannabis.

UPDATE: HB 1535 has been passed by the Texas House and was passed unanimously by the Senate State Affairs Committee on May 24. Some amendments were made to the bill (see below).

Contact your legislators in support of HB 1535 and ask them to reinstate chronic pain as a qualifying condition!

House Bill 1535, authored by Chairwoman Stephanie Klick and Sponsored by Senator Charles Schwertner, was amended and passed unanimously. The bill was amended to allow access for all patients with cancer and PTSD, but not chronic pain. Notably, they removed the provision that would have empowered the Department of State Health Services to add new qualifying conditions. Disappointingly, the committee also reduced the cap on THC from 5% to 1% by weight. Learn more and take action here.

We'd like to see these changes reversed and offer our recommendations on how the program can further be improved.

  • Allow Doctors to practice medicine by authorizing them to determine the optimal strength and dosage for each individual patient’s medical needs. This means there should be no list of qualifying conditions/symptoms nor any THC cap, both of which restrict a doctor’s ability to properly treat their patients.

  • Move from percentage based dosing to weight based dosing like other prescription medicines. Doctors should be able to recommend how many milligrams of THC, CBD, or other cannabinoids a patient needs rather than using a complicated formula to determine weight from the percentage restriction.

  • Protect doctors from federal interference by allowing them to "recommend" (not "prescribe") low-THC cannabis, which is still a Schedule I controlled substance. This is how all 36 states with effective medical cannabis laws operate.

  • Establish patient protections to eliminate the threat of arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner. These protections cover any denial of right or privilege, civil penalty, or disciplinary action, by a court or occupational licensing entity. Parental rights should never be denied, and students cannot be subject to any form of discipline solely because of possession or use of their legal medicine.

  • Authorize independent, third-party testing by certified labs for consumer protection and industry accountability. Currently, no independent lab can test medicine dispensed under the Compassionate Use Program.

Thank you for supporting Texas patients and families!