In the 2021 legislative session, lawmakers expanded the state’s medical cannabis program to include patients with PTSD and all types of cancer as eligible candidates. But since then, advocates say the demand has outgrown the current program’s capabilities.
The state’s medical cannabis program, the Compassionate Use Program (TCUP), operates under the Texas Department of Public Safety. The law currently allows for a minimum of three licensed dispensaries to operate in the state, and so far, there only are three.
Geoff Young with the Veterans Cannabis Project compared this issue to trying to add lanes on MoPac or I-35 when congested traffic is already a daily problem for Texas drivers.
“The existing licensees are lagging behind,” Young said. “The demand is there, the legislation and the laws are already there, we just need more access to what’s been approved.”
During a Thursday DPS Commission meeting last week, Wayne Mueller — chief of DPS’ regulatory services division — said the state is looking to open up applications for more licensees in mid-January. However, he said TCUP likely won’t start making any decisions on any applicants in case lawmakers make any changes to the program during the 2023 legislative session.
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