Governor Abbott Supports Law for Texas Medical Marijuana Reform

Texas is taking another small step forward in marijuana reform. 

In a tweet sent out last night, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that he intends to sign a bill that would ease restrictions on medical marijuana in Texas. 

The Governor tweeted veterans could qualify for medical marijuana with the bill and that he intended to sign it into law. 

Texas House Bill 1535 will expand Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, which was enacted in 2015. The program currently allows doctors to prescribe low-THC marijuana to patients with epilepsy and other seizure disorders as well as other medical conditions. 

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Once signed into law, the program will allow for the prescription of low-THC marijuana to individuals who suffer from PTSD and chronic pain, two conditions many veterans suffer from. 

Of course, the question on the minds of those seeking marijuana reform is whether or not this moves us closer to the legalization of recreational marijuana. 

Marijuana reform website MJBizDaily doesn’t consider Texas to be a state that is in-play for recreational marijuana reform. In fact, the website still doesn’t consider Texas to be a medical marijuana state. 

Marijuana Moment reports that while progress was made by legislators, we still have a long way to go after several disappointments. The site points out that the majority of voters in Texas support the decriminalization of marijuana: 

A strong majority of Texans back even broader reform, according to recent polling. Sixty percent of voters in the state support making cannabis legal ‘for any use,’ signaling that local initiatives for more modest proposals like decriminalization would likely pass easily.

I feel like we inch a little closer toward full-on marijuana reform here in The Lone Star State, but it looks like the finish line is still a ways out.