While visiting one of Texas’ three licensed low-THC medical marijuana growers this month, the state’s Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has argued that patients with toothaches could benefit from cannabis.
“I would certainly expand medical marijuana,” Miller exclaimed. “If it’ll help somebody, I’m for it. Whatever it is. I mean, a toothache, I don’t care. If it’s a cure, if it [alleviates] pain, we should be able to use that.”
Nexstar Media Group was the first to report the state’s top agriculture official when he was touring the Austin-area grow facility of Compassionate Cultivation last Thursday. Miller was with a group of parents whose children use medical marijuana to treat autism and other conditions.
The Republican official said that “if someone has a condition that this chemical should help, they should be able to use it.”
Miller also announced that Texas is nearing harvest time for hemp, which the state legalized last legislative session and began issuing cultivation licenses for this year.
According to the commissioner, more than 5,000 acres of hemp have been planted in the state by more than 1,000 licensed farmers.
Lawmakers in Texas are expected to reconsider medical marijuana expansion when the legislature reconvenes in January. Legislative sessions happen every other year in the state.
