Texas May Expand Medical Cannabis

Despite their tendency towards conservative policy, Texas may be willing to expand their medical program.

According to My Statesman, Texas has realized just how much money there is in a big state to service more CBD patients and THC patients, and are getting ready to potentially tap into this market by adding new legislation to the 2017 ballot.

Currently, Texas has legislation in place in the form of Senate Bill 339, which allows children with epilepsy to treat their conditions with CBD oil, like many other states. The new proposals for the 2017 legislature would add many more qualifying conditions, and would allow THC and CBD to both be prescribed for those who need medical cannabis.

Texas is basing this model off of Colorado’s medical cannabis system, and after numerous officials have run the numbers, it is clear that the state could make a lot of money from legal cannabis in 2017. It is estimated that there are 150,000 previously undiagnosed potential medical users of CBD in Texas if the list of treatable conditions was expanded beyond just a rare form of epilepsy. This could yield the state $900 million. Additionally, if the cannabis market grows to include THC users, an estimated 565,000 patients could be treated.

“If you look at licensing we would get—the revenue we get from licensing—as well as the fees and taxes, it’d have a huge economic impact of a regulated medicinal market, which would mean billions of dollars to the bottom line of the state in benefits,” stated local Senator José Menéndez, a Democrat from San Antonia Texas and one of the supporters of expanding the medical program.

While Texas has a reputation for being a little bit more conservative than some states, they also have a reputation for embracing ideas that can bring in the big bucks, and for going big or going home. It’s no surprise that the state is already looking for ways to expand and capitalize on legal cannabis.