Texas House of Representatives approved bills that would significantly expand Texas’ limited medical cannabis program, and also support the research of therapeutic potential of Ibogaine in order to promote federal approval of it.
The marijuana measure cleared the House on third reading with a vote of 122–21 and the ibogaine legislation was approved 138-2. This action, which comes a day after both bills received initial approval in second reading, sends the proposals to Senate.
Rep. Ken King, sponsor of medical cannabis legislation HB 46 and the Texas Compassionate Usage Program (TCUP), said that the bill will build upon the Texas program to make it easier for patients to access the drug.
House Bill 46 will expand the TCUP Program by adding up to 15 licenses. The time required to approve licenses is shortened. “It adds conditions for qualifying, such as palliative and hospice care,” said he. This bill addresses the TCUP, which is a priority for veterans.
This proposal will expand the range of products that patients can purchase and add many other conditions to qualify as registered patients.
The law would permit patients access to cannabis patches, lotions or suppositories as well as approved inhalers and vaporizers. The current limited list would include chronic pain and glaucoma as well traumatic brain injuries (TBI), degenerative disc diseases, Crohn’s disease, or any other inflammatory intestinal disease.
The Texas Department of State Health Services would have the authority to expand this list.
This bill also mandates that DPS issue 11 licenses for dispensaries in the designated 11 public health areas across the entire state. The bill would also allow for dispensaries, if they are approved, to open satellite stores.
A Monday amendment would allow doctors to set dosages and lift the limit of 1.2 grams for patients’ possession.
Second, a second amendment passed by members requires doctors to notify the state prescription drug program when they issue recommendations for medical cannabis.
The bill, if passed, would build on Texas’s limited, current medical marijuana program. This allows those with eight conditions to access non-smoking cannabis products that contain no more than 0.5% by weight.
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The separate ibogaine law, meanwhile would establish a grant program via the state Health and Human Services Commission to fund trials to explore ibogaine for treatment of opioid use disorders (OUDs) and mental illnesses.
“To the veterans who are out there struggling, for the mothers—millions of mothers across the state of Texas who have kids who are addicted to opioids—Texas is coming, Rep. Cody Harris (R), sponsor of a House companion version of the measure, said on the floor.
The purpose of SB 2308 is to help secure approval of the psychedelic by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
While the measure has previously passed the Senate, the House slightly amended it to clarify that the definition of ibogaine that would be studied also includes ibogaine-based therapeutics and analogues. As such, it needs to go back to the other body before potentially being sent to the governor and enacted into law.
The analysis states that OUD continues to be “one of the most pernicious threats to our public health, destroying individuals, families and communities throughout Texas and the United States.” It also says “current treatments are ineffective in treating OUD. Lives are lost as a consequence.”
Ibogaine, it states, has shown “incredible promise” in the early stages of research. It is an effective treatment that works quickly for OUD or other conditions related to OUD. Ibogaine, however, must first undergo expensive FDA-approved trials in order to become a viable option for treatment.
According to the proposed legislation, the public-private partnerships program “will cover the cost of FDA drug development trials using ibogaine in order to obtain FDA approval for ibogaine as a treatment for OUD, cooccurring addiction disorders, or any other neuropsychiatric conditions that ibogaine has shown efficacy for.”
The grant is available to organizations that are able to conduct clinical trials on ibogaine, which could lead the FDA into approval. They must also submit a proposal that outlines the financial incentives for developing the psychoactive medicine, the third-party coverage of therapy, and the credentials of the medical professionals who administer it.
The analysis states that “if before implementing any provisions of the bill, a state agencies determines that a waiver from federal agency for the implementation of this provision is required.
The measure’s passage comes days after the Texas House gave final passage to a pair of bills designed to ensure speedy access to psychedelic-assisted therapy in the event of federal approval from FDA.
One bill—HB 4014, from Rep. John Bucy III (D)—would establish a state-backed study into the use of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine to treat conditions such as PTSD and depression. The other—HB 4813, from Rep. Tom Oliverson (R)—aims to minimize delay at the state level if and when FDA approves a new drug, such as psilocybin or MDMA.
With respect to the cannabis legislation, its approval comes months after DPS released a report advising that the state’s currently limited medical marijuana system “does not provide for statewide access for patients” and recommending that the number of licensed dispensaries be significantly expanded to meet demand.
A recent poll found that four in five Texas voters want to see marijuana legalized in some form, and most also want to see regulations around cannabis relaxed.
Meanwhile in Texas, a House committee approved a Senate-passed bill earlier this month that would prohibit cities from putting any citizen initiative on local ballots that would decriminalize marijuana or other controlled substances—as several localities have already done despite lawsuits from the state attorney general.
Under the proposal, state law would be amended to say that local entities “may not place an item on a ballot, including a municipal charter or charter amendment, that would provide that the local entity will not fully enforce” state drug laws.
While several courts have previously upheld local cannabis decriminalization laws, an appellate court comprised of three conservative justices appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has recently pushed back against two of those rulings, siding with the state in its legal challenge to the marijuana policy in Austin and San Marcos.
Despite the ongoing litigation and advancement of the House and Senate bills, Texas activists have their targets set on yet another city, Kyle, where they hope put an initiative before voters to enact local marijuana reform at the ballot this coming November.
Abbott is adamantly against municipal efforts to legalize cannabis.
“Local communities such as towns, cities and counties, they don’t have the authority to override state law,” the governor said last May “If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their legislators. Let’s work together to ensure that as a collective, the state will be able to pass certain laws.
It would create “chaos” in the state and allow voters to choose which laws are adhered to by their cities.
Abbott has previously said that he doesn’t believe people should be in jail over marijuana possession—although he mistakenly suggested at the time that Texas had already enacted a decriminalization policy to that end.
In 2023, Ground Game released a report that looked at the impacts of the marijuana reform laws. In 2023, Ground Game released a report that examined the impacts of marijuana reform laws. It concluded that hundreds of people will avoid jail even though some cities have experienced repercussions from police. According to the report, these initiatives also drove voter turnout because they were on the ballot.
Another cannabis decriminalization measure that went before voters in San Antonio that year was overwhelmingly defeated, but that proposal also included unrelated provisions to prevent enforcement of abortion restrictions.
Meanwhile, in March the Texas Senate approved a bill that cannabis advocates and stakeholders said would effectively eradicate the state’s hemp industry, prohibiting consumable products derived from the plant that contain any amount of THC.
That, as well as another measure from Rep. Joe Moody (D) to decriminalize cannabis statewide, is one of the latest of nearly two dozen cannabis-related proposals filed so far in Texas for the current legislative session. Other proposals include legalizing marijuana for adults, eliminating criminal penalties associated with cannabis possession, and amending the current medical marijuana law in Texas.
Moody sponsored a similar marijuana decriminalization bill last legislative session, in 2023. That measure, HB 218, passed the House on an 87–59 vote but later died in a Senate committee.
The House had already passed earlier cannabis decriminalization proposals during the two previous legislative sessions, in 2021 and 2019. But the efforts have consistently stalled in the Senate amid opposition from the lieutenant governor.
Ben Adlin contributed reporting.
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