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The Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana concentrates\u2014and lawmakers separately advanced legislation to require studies on the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics for military veterans.<\/p>\n
These actions come at the beginning of a busy week for drug policy reform in the legislature. Additional proposals to decriminalize cannabis possession and expand the state\u2019s medical marijuana program are set to be considered on the House floor over the coming days.<\/p>\n
The cannabis concentrates measure<\/a> would make it so possession of up to two ounces of those products would be downgraded to a class B misdemeanor. The bill cleared the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee<\/a> earlier this month, and now it\u2019s been approved on second reading in the full chamber, with a final vote to send it to the Senate expected as early as Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWith about 30 days left in the legislative session, we are so pleased to see the Texas House advancing meaningful changes to our state\u2019s marijuana laws,\u201d Heather Fazio, director of Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cNow the focus shifts to the Senate, which has historically been a steep uphill battle.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the psychedelics research legislation<\/a> from Rep. Alex Dominguez (D) passed in the House Public Health Committee on Monday. The panel approved amendment that includes changes limiting the scope of the state-funded study to focus on military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rather than a broader list of conditions attached to the initial bill.<\/p>\n The legislation<\/a> would require the state to study the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for veterans in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and a military-focused medical center. It was also amended to mandate a clinical trial into psilocybin for veterans with PTSD, in addition to a broader review of the scientific literature on all three substances.<\/p>\n The Health and Human Services Commission would have to submit quarterly reports on their progress, with a full report on the panel\u2019s findings be due by December 2024.<\/p>\n But while both of these bills represent significant developments in drug policy in Texas, they\u2019re just the first pieces of legislation on the issue that will be taken up by lawmakers this week.<\/p>\n \u2014 On Wednesday, the House will consider a bill<\/a> that would add cancer, chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (for veterans only) as conditions that could qualify people for the state\u2019s limited medical cannabis program. It passed in the House Public Health Committee<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n The legislation would further allow the Department of State Health Services to add more qualifying conditions via administrative rulemaking. And it would also raise the THC cap for medical marijuana products from 0.5 percent to five percent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are poised for a busy week,\u201d Jax Finkel, executive director of Texas NORML, told Marijuana Moment. \u201cWe are hopeful that friendly amendments can continue to improve this important legislation. We will be handing out one pagers with our recommendations to all offices at the Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n Finkel said advocates are also preparing for House consideration of a measure to make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a class C misdemeanor that carries a fine but no threat of jail time. The chamber is scheduled to take up that decriminalization bill<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n The full\u00a0House approved a cannabis decriminalization bill<\/a>\u00a0in 2019,\u00a0but it did not advance<\/a>\u00a0in the Senate that session.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that today\u2019s movement is setting the stage for what it to come the rest of the week,\u201d Finkel said.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee also discussed legislation that would make certain changes to the state\u2019s hemp program, including imposing rules related to the transportation and testing of consumable hemp products.<\/p>\n While the Texas legislature has historically resisted most cannabis reforms, there are signs that this session may be different.<\/p>\n House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) said during a Texas Young Republicans event last month that while he wouldn\u2019t be able to distinguish marijuana from oregano,\u00a0he said, \u201cI understand the issue.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The speaker said that he voted for a limited medical cannabis legalization bill during his freshman year in the legislature, and his support for the reform is partly based on the fact that he has a \u201csister with severe epilepsy, and small amounts of CBD oil makes a big difference in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Phelan also noted that he was a \u201cjoint author\u2014no pun intended\u201d of cannabis decriminalization legislation last session.<\/p>\n \u201cI was able to go back home and explain it, and it wasn\u2019t a big deal,\u201d he said. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a reasonable criminal justice reform issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Texans\u2019 support for legalizing marijuana has\u00a0grown significantly over the past decade<\/a>, according to a poll released last month.<\/p>\n Sixty percent of state voters now back making cannabis legal \u201cfor any use,\u201d the University of Texas and Texas Tribune survey found. That compares to just 42 percent who said the same back in 2010.<\/p>\n Leaders in both chambers of the legislature have recently indicated that they anticipate more modest proposals to be\u00a0taken up and potentially approved this session<\/a>, particularly as it concerns expanding the state\u2019s limited medical cannabis program.<\/p>\n Phelan said he thinks \u201cthe House will look at\u201d reform measures this year, including bills to legalize for adult use. He said the lawmakers will likely \u201creview those again, and some will get traction, some will not.\u201d However, the Senate remains an obstacle for comprehensive reform.<\/p>\n Legislators in the state\u00a0prefiled more than a dozen pieces of cannabis legislation<\/a>\u00a0ahead of the new session. That includes bills that would legalize recreational marijuana, allow high-THC cannabis for medical use and decriminalize low-level possession of marijuana.<\/p>\n That said, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the Senate, has killed prior efforts to enact reform in the state, raising questions about the prospects of far-reaching changes advancing in the chamber.<\/p>\n Louisiana Lawmakers Approve Marijuana Legalization Bill In Committee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Texas Lawmakers Approve Marijuana And Psychedelics Reform Bills<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Texas House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill to reduce penalties for possession of marijuana concentrates\u2014and lawmakers separately advanced legislation to require studies on the therapeutic potential of certain psychedelics for military veterans. These actions come at the beginning of a busy week for drug policy reform inContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":47343,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47342"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47344,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47342\/revisions\/47344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Texas Lawmakers Approve Marijuana And Psychedelics Reform Bills<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"