Cannabis advocates are pushing the Department of Public Safety to streamline rules for the state's so-called Compassionate Use Program. Texas MarijuanaReform MedicalMarijuana CannabisCommunity CannabisNews CannabisIndustry
CEO Morris Denton, left, looks at plans for Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation’s growing facility.
Phelan's statement comes after Texas' medical marijuana industry won a victory during the 2021 legislative session that allowed it to broaden the number of people it serves, including all cancer patients. Well, I think there's a lot of things that are happening on this issue all around him and all around the state of Texas from a political perspective. And what is really happening is that there's a tremendous ongoing groundswell of support within the Republican Party for advancing safe and legal access to medical cannabis. The Republican Party in the state of Texas, by a wide margin, supports legalizing medical cannabis.
What's the biggest one that you're talking with DPS about? I know one sticking point is not being able to store product overnight at the dispensaries you operate outside of your corporate headquarters. So, we want to see chronic pain added. With the opioid epidemic that continues to just rage, with the fentanyl issue, with all the drugs coming across the border, with the addiction rates continuing to spike, with the number of overdose deaths in Texas continuing to climb, there's got to be an alternative for doctors to be able to start their patients out on something that's not, No. 1, so addictive. And, No. 2, so easy to abuse that it results in overdoses. And that's cannabis.