On June 14, 2019, Governor Greg Abbot signed into law a bill (House Bill 3703) expanding access to medical marijuana products in the State of Texas.

Effective immediately, qualified physicians can prescribe medical marijuana products to treat epilepsy, seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis (commonly known as MS), spasticity, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly known as ALS or Lou Gherig’s disease), autism, terminal cancer, and incurable neurodegenerative diseases.  The patient must be a permanent resident of Texas.  Under the prior version of the law, medical marijuana was available only to patients with intractable epilepsy, a seizure disorder that is difficult to control with treatment. 

Texas’ medical marijuana law, known as the Texas Compassionate Use Act, is limited to low-THC products (up to 0.5%).

The passage of House Bill 3703 comes on the heels of Texas passing a law legalizing the production of industrial hemp and hemp-derived extracts, like CBD oil, which we wrote about last month.

Texas is slowly becoming more accepting of the benefits marijuana, but compared to those states that have legalized cannabis for recreational use, it continues to approach with caution.  For an overview of how expansion of the Texas Compassionate Use Act might affect your business, read this or contact Lee Szor at LSzor@FoxRothschild.com.