Have they passed this in Texas yet?
Yes, but the program is extremely limited and finding a doctor who will write a prescription can be next to impossible. Basically, state legislators are trying to practice medicine by telling doctors how, when, and what they can prescribe.
Here is a cut and paste:
Who Qualifies for Medicinal Marijuana in Texas
Even though the name of the state’s medical marijuana program is the “Texas Compassionate Use Act,” in reality, it’s anything but. The state of Texas has one of the most ineffective medical marijuana programs in the country — it’s arguably the worst of its kind in the United States.
Medical marijuana qualifications in Texas are limited to but one condition: intractable epilepsy. And patients are only limited to using cannabidiol (CBD) oil to prevent seizures and replace other medications that have severe side effects. The bill was signed into law in 2015 but was not expected to take effect until September 2017 at the earliest.
What Are the Medical Marijuana Qualifications in Texas?
Texas’ medical marijuana program is incredibly limited, to the point that it does basically nothing to help patients who are supposed to benefit. Patients can only obtain CBD oil if they have tried at least two other prescription medications to no avail.
How to Become a Medical Marijuana Patient in Texas
To meet medical marijuana qualifications in Texas, epilepsy sufferers must obtain prescriptions from two state-licensed physicians before they can legally obtain CBD oil. This is what makes this incredibly ineffective program basically worthless. The word “prescription” makes it just about impossible for a patient to get CBD because very few, if any, physicians will actually write a prescription for a cannabis extract. The reason is that doing so is illegal under federal law.
In states that have legitimate medicinal cannabis programs, doctors are instead required to write “recommendations” or issue “certificates” for patients to obtain legal medical weed. The language in the Texas program is written in a way that fails to protect doctors who truly believe CBD can help their epileptic patients. If they write a prescription for CBD, they not only risk arrest, but also the loss of their right to practice medicine.
