Texas Lawmakers Introduce Legislation That Allow Patients Access To Medical Marijuana

Although support for easing medical marijuana regulations has grown significantly over the last two years, there are still some doubters. Recent developments out of Texas may turn some of the remaining skeptics into believers.

On Friday, Texas lawmakers introduced legislation that would allow patients suffering from serious conditions, such as cancer and seizure disorders, access to medical marijuana as long as they get a doctor’s prescription.

Bills submitted to both the House and the Senate

Democrat representative Marisa Márquez introduced House Bill 3785 and Democratic state Senator José Menéndez introduced a companion bill in the Senate to remove barriers between patients and treatment.

“By continuing to deny access to patients, we limit the rights of families to seek the best possible treatment for conditions that do not respond to other drugs or therapies,” Rep. Márquez said in a news release. “We should create paths, and not obstacles, in allowing doctors to recommend medicine that has been shown to work.”

The House and Senate bills that were introduced differed from previous proposals which had allowed patients access to cannabidiol (CBD) oils.

Sweeping the nation

“Obviously this is a conservative state, so some are concerned about coming forward on something that’s not traditionally a conservative issue,” said Heather Fazio, the Texas political director for the Marijuana Policy Project.

 “It’s really sweeping the nation. People are realizing this plant is not all the government has told us it is,” Fazio said. “The information is available on the Internet, and everyone has access to learn for themselves — rather than hearing from politicians, some skewed study, or law enforcement.”

What is next?

Texas is without a doubt one of the largest and most conservative states and we find developments like this to be very exciting. It further proves that legal medical marijuana is just a matter of time and no longer a question of if, but when. Technical420 expects to see significant pushback from both the House and Senate and although it most likely will not get passed, it is the first of gradually more significant legislative developments.  

Share

Tags

Michael Berger is Managing Partner of StoneBridge Partners, LLC and Founder of Technical420.com. Prior to entering the cannabis industry, Michael was an Equity Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial covering the Energy Sector. Michael has been featured in publications such as The Street, Bloomberg, US Money News, and hosts various cannabis events across North America.

Top Stories