Texas lawmakers are considering changing the state’s medical marijuana program so that all Texans with cancer and veteran who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have additional pay management options.
The Texas House Public Health Committee heard testimony on House Bill 1535 this week which would add more ailments to the list of qualifying conditions.
It would also create a research program to learn more about medicinal marijuana, and increase the percentage of tetrahydrocannabinol— the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana.
All forms of cancer, people with acute and chronic pain, veterans with PTSD, and debilitating medical conditions defined by the state would be added to the qualifying list of conditions under the bill.
State Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, who chairs the public health committee, proposed the expansion.
“I’ve always taken a scientific approach to the program, when more is known, then move the ball a little further down the road,” Klick said in an interview Wednesday.
Mike Thompson, who has suffered immensely from childhood cancer, had testified that “Not a day went by when I didn’t take a narcotic.”
Thompson, now 36, said his addiction could have been avoided if his doctors had the green light to prescribe him medical marijuana.
“I’m not able to use the tools that are available to me to best assist the patients in need,” Dr. Mary Caire of Dallas exclaimed.
HB 1535 would also raise the THC limit tenfold, from 0.5% to 5% by weight.
