LUBBOCK, Texas –A State House committee approved expanding Texas’s medical marijuana program Friday, to include more conditions and choice in treatment. House Bill 2107 would cover more conditions under the “compassionate use” of medical marijuana — adopted by the Legislature in 2015 — and allow more options in the use of medicinal cannabis.
Sunday, advocates for policy reform marched from the Hub City NORML office near 18th and Ave. Q to the Courthouse, chanting and waving modified Texas flags — replacing the Lone Star with the outline of a marijuana leaf — to show support for expanded care. Yvette Nichols, with NORML, said simply giving patients the option to use marijuana can expand care for certain conditions.
“I’m bipolar,” Nichols said, “and I’ve used marijuana for my bipolar for many, many years. Here in Texas, I can’t do that, and I’m forced to take medications which are slowly killing me.”
The compassionate use program currently only allows patients suffering from intractable epilepsy to access specific types of low-THC products, some of which have been found to be ineffective for some patients.
“I’ve seen the good in marijuana,” Nichols said. “I come from a legal state — I’m from California — so I know the medical benefits of marijuana, and anything that can help someone should be medically accessible. It’s just wrong to keep it from them.”
HB 2107 would also change specific language in existing law to allow doctors to “recommend” medicinal marijuana, as prescribing it (as required) is illegal under federal law.
credit:fox34.com
