As bills keep dying under pressure from the clock in the Texas Legislature, supporters of a bill to expand the use of marijuana for medical purposes are scrambling to keep it alive under pressing deadlines, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The Texas Democratic Party said in a statement that it would be a shame if ‘good bills got hung up’ in the legislative process, and released the names of 46 Democratic House members who are co sponsors of what is called the ‘Compassionate Use Act,’ which would expand on the number of conditions that could be treated with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
“As stated in our party’s platform, the Texas Democratic Party believes that cannabis policy reform can improve public safety, boost our economy, and provide much-needed health care options for struggling Texans,” the Democratic Party said in a statement.
The Democrats hinted that Republicans are trying to kill the Compassionate Use Act, but more than thirty House Republicans are also co sponsors of the bill.
HB 2107 is actually the weakest of several marijuana normalization laws introduced in this session. It would simply expand the list of conditions that could be treated with either THC or cannabis oil, not actual marijuana, to include PTSD and several childhood diseases
.Currently, under a bill passed in 2015, the only conditions that can be treated with cannabis oil are a narrowly defined number of seizure disorders.This will also includes several provisions that require that two other treatments be administered and fail before cannabis can be used, and says the substance could only be place under the patient’s tongue.
HB 2017 was placed on the Calendar’s Committee last night, one of the deadlines needed to keep it alive, but with less than three weeks remaining in the session, its chances look increasingly slim.
State Sen. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) told 1200 WOAI news earlier this week that his bill which would allow complete medicinal use of marijuana, is dead for the session.
credit:woai.iheart.com
