Texas Lawmakers Passed Medical Cannabis Expansion Bill Adding Cancer, PTSD, Chronic Pain As Qualifying Conditions

Texas lawmakers unanimously voted for a medical cannabis expansion bill in the Public Health House Committee on Wednesday, reports Marijuana Moment.

With the Committee’s passage, the bill is now moved to the Calendars Committee to be scheduled for a vote by the House of Representatives.

The medical cannabis bill, HB 1535, sponsored by Chairwoman Stephanie Klick, proposes adding PTSD (for veterans only), cancer, and chronic pain to the list of health conditions that qualify patients for treatment with medical cannabis. It would also enable the Department of State Health Services to add other conditions through administrative rulemaking, while creating “institutional review boards” focused on helping medical cannabis research.

Furthermore, the bill would increase the THC cap for medical cannabis products from 0.5% to 5%.

Overall, cannabis enthusiasts in the state are pleased with the bill’s passage, even though they were reportedly expecting that the bill would be changed to erase the THC cap completely and enable physicians to decide which patients should be able to receive medical cannabis treatment regardless of their health condition, writes the outlet.

Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy said that despite the lack of committee revisions, “representatives will have a chance to make amendments on the floor and senators can amend it later in the process.”

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