The Fort Worth Star Telegram is reporting that because of a recent medical marijuana law passed by the Texas Legislature, pot is going to be grown in the state of Texas legally. However, the new law, passed in 2015, is strictly limited to people who are suffering from epilepsy and who have not responded to federally approved treatments.
The marijuana-derived treatment will consist of cannabidiol, which comes in liquid form. The treatment does not contain THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the part of the marijuana plant that produces a high.
The first legal marijuana field will be a ten-acre plot in Schulenburg, a small community east of San Antonio. The land is owned by a company called Consortium Texas, the first private firm to receive a license in Texas to grow medicinal pot. The company expects to have the new treatment available by the end of 2017, which will be offered by prescription from a doctor to patients who need it.
The use of marijuana for any other purpose, medical or recreational, remains illegal in the state of Texas. Some efforts were made during the most recent session of the state legislature. However since no research is available to suggest that cannabidiol will treat other conditions, these efforts came to naught.
Even so, Texas advocates of medical marijuana intend to continue to try to expand its use in Texas. Pot is used in other states in edible form to counteract the nausea that occurs during chemotherapy. In the meantime, two other companies are expected to get licenses to grow medical marijuana in the near future.