Texas Lawmakers Approve Medical Cannabis for Chronic Pain

Texas lawmakers have passed a bill allowing doctors to recommend medical cannabis as an alternative to opioids for patients with chronic pain resulting from various conditions.

According to Benzinga, Republican representative Stephanie Klick introduced the bill, which expands the list of conditions for which patients can qualify for low-THC medical cannabis and removes the current THC cap.

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The original bill called for a five percent THC content limit to replace the current one percent THC cap, but it was amended to include a volumetric dose limit of 10 milligrams.

The bill permits the Department of State Health Services to identify debilitating medical conditions that qualify for the program. If enacted, the bill will take effect from September 1, 2023.

In addition, Texas lawmakers are considering legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession.

Researchers from the Universities of Florida, Southern California, and Purdue have recently conducted a study that found a significant decrease in direct payments from opioid manufacturers to physicians following the legalization of medical cannabis.

This finding may help to address the ongoing issue of opioid misuse, which has resulted in over 106,000 drug overdose deaths in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study suggests that the availability of medical cannabis as an alternative to opioids may have reduced the influence of opioid manufacturers on physicians.

The findings offer a potential solution to the problem of opioid misuse, which has become a major public health concern in recent years.